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Toys ‘R’ Us Didn’t Have to Die

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Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Didn’t Have to Die

#171

Post by bunderbunder »

pouetpouet wrote: post #86
thisisit wrote: post #8

Retailing seems to be dying in US irrespective of the company: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-17/retail-st... Couple of years ago, one of my friends bought a store at a strip mall. The store was making a loss. And the previously owners were an elderly couple. So my friends thesis was that they weren't exactly tuned into the digital presence business and it was still entirely possible to run a store i…

The US have too much retail space. Retail is not really dying there is too much of it. https://www.statista.com/chart/9454/retail-space-per-1000-pe... https://qz.com/1032723/theres-much-more-empty-retail-space-i... https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/04/retail-...

I wonder if it's also a case of there being too much of the wrong kinds of retail space.

If there's a retail store within a mile of our house, I'll happily walk to it and do my shopping there. Especially when it's a pleasant day outside, that's an enjoyable way to get out of the house and get a little light exercise.

If the only kind of store left that sells what I need is one of the big box stores, so that going there means having to get in the car and deal with traffic and haul myself halfway across town and, seriously, ugh, that is enough of a chore that I'm already feeling vaguely annoyed just thinking about it. No thanks; I'll happily order online.

And I would rather starve in the woods than drive all the way out to the nearest shopping mall.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Didn’t Have to Die

#172

Post by mgkimsal »

ascagnel_ wrote: post #135
mgkimsal wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

you forgot "internet cafes" - meaning gambling storefronts.

Internet cafes/PC baangs never really caught on in the US -- home connectivity spread much faster and supplanted the need for such businesses in wealthier areas, and shared resources like public libraries serve less well-heeled areas.

got downvoted, and.... realizing that this may be more of a regional thing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweepstakes_parlor

and

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/03/24/statel...

this is a big thing in north carolina areas.

It's basically nothing to do with internet cafes that you'd find (or have found) in Europe. These are just sweepstakes/gambling places that have the words "internet cafe" on the door.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Didn’t Have to Die

#173

Post by allannienhuis »

isostatic wrote: post #157
DanBC wrote: post #151

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> In the UK some people are taxed at >100% on income Do you have any examples please?

If you're a couple who transfer some of one earner's tax free allowance to the other via the marriage allowance, and the higher earner earns £46,350, they will pay £11,211.32 in income tax and national insurance If they earn an extra £1, the marriage allowance vanishes, and they pay £11,449.54 in income tax and national insurance That's a 23,822% tax rate on that pound.

there's a big difference between claiming > 100% tax rate and > 100% MARGINAL tax rate for a specific circumstance. Many jurisdictions have specific deduction boundaries where the next $ earned would bump someone into a very high marginal tax rated on that next dollar. In reality the net tax change for that person in your example isn't a significant material change - a couple hundred pounds on their yearly tax bill.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Didn’t Have to Die

#174

Post by emodendroket »

sasaf5 wrote: post #67
emodendroket wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd argue that a toy store, more than any other kind of retailer, is insulated from that, because the store has an little advocate for spending ten dollars extra to buy the product right now with most shoppers. And going to the toy store itself is kind of an activity that I don't think you can replace with online shopping.

Anecdote time: I took my cousin (12) to a toy store once. First it was difficult to get him out of his iPad and get out of home. Second he was completely indifferent to anything in the store. We ended up buying some card games and credit for mobile games. + There aren't many kids anymore.

There may be fewer children than at some point in the past but let's not get carried away

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Didn’t Have to Die

#175

Post by scarface74 »

toufique wrote: post #98

Begs the question, what kinds of local businesses are structurally safe from being disrupted by Amazon? Some that come to mind: * Food - restaurants, fast food, pizza, takeout * Social experiences - bars, cafes, arcades, comedy clubs * Things that can't be shipped - gas stations, perishables * Things you want right away - milk, delis, convenience stores * Things that can't be commoditized - Copying keys * Services -…

Copying keys...

https://www.gokeyless.com/blog/new-website-allows-users-to-c...

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Didn’t Have to Die

#176

Post by JKCalhoun »

gkoberger wrote: post #5

I read the whole article, and I didn't really see a convincing argument that it didn't have to die. Sure, it could have eked out a few more years... but it was living on borrowed time. Not only do most people shop online now, most toys are also online. I imagine most parents put money into TV shows, video games, iPhone apps, etc.

Toys 'R' Us had "curated" the vast swath of toys that exist down to a handful of the usual fair. Barbie, the latest Pixar toys, the standard board-games....

Like corporate bookstores, theater chains, music stores you got the same selection at all their million outlets in the country.

Perhaps it's just me that was tired of the same-ol' same ol' or maybe the public became tired of it as well.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Didn’t Have to Die

#177

Post by slfnflctd »

zer0faith wrote: post #165
mkirklions wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Things that make me go to a store >Instant >Helpful employees Prices didnt matter if I showed up to the store, but it should be cheaper than shipping to your home. Employees should be knowledgeable and helpful. Instead most stores have the exact products or fewer online, higher prices, and an empty store.

I once tried to stock up on some generator connectors and like electrical items in my department before Hurricane Sandy. My orders were denied because last year sales and previous three week trends weren't enough to justify the order. The shelves stayed empty for almost 2 months.

Modern logistics algorithms have massively increased supply chain efficiency, but there should always be a human override for cases like this. The models cannot and will not ever be able to account for everything.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Didn’t Have to Die

#178

Post by scarface74 »

What types of toys are kids buying these days? I’ve never been a parent of a really young child, my experience with parenting are with my stepsons - the youngest was 9 in 2010. Besides a bike, the only toys he was interested in were video games, he collected action figures for awhile, and water guns.

All of which could be served better by Amazon or for video games by GameStop - a store with a much smaller footprint.

Even when I was growing up in the 80s by nine, I remember most kids being interested in video games, bikes and sports equipment. All of which were available at Walmart either at the same price or cheaper.

With video game downloads becoming more popular, I don’t see how GameStop is going to survive after this round of the console generation.

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Didn’t Have to Die

#179

Post by amyjess »

krallja wrote: post #43
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #30

The thing that's really lacking to me in online toy stores is, I guess, discoverability. Amazon can give you a list of all the Transformers, or all the Legos, in an instant, and with a bit of prodding it does an acceptable job of showing you the current top-selling toys, but it's impossible to walk down an aisle at Amazon and see something awesome that you've never heard of.

I went to our neighborhood Toys-R-Us to be a vulture, and discovered quite a few toys I wouldn’t have considered purchasing otherwise. Of course, the 40-70% discounts helped a lot.

Same here. I went there to soak in childhood nostalgia one last time before it closed, and I was surprised by a) all the things I saw there that I would have never heard of otherwise and B) all the random things I have vague memories from when I was a kid that are still around.

And it made me feel profoundly sad that that experience will be gone forever soon. Soon, it'll just be the top brand names that anyone will have ever heard of and the random weird stuff will all be gone. I'm talking about the toys that you had growing up that you never knew what they were called but you had because your parents passed by it at random and went "ooh, that looks interesting, I bet [kid's name] will like this".

Re: Toys ‘R’ Us Didn’t Have to Die

#180

Post by upvotinglurker »

ben1040 wrote: post #155
pandapunchpower wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is some scope for a brick and mortar toy store provided they are willing to be double as a pseudo-playcenter. Toy aisles and toy stores are frequently populated by exhausted parents standing around while their children entertain themselves checking out the toys. The kids are happy enough. The parents are content just to have a few minutes to themselves. Toy retailers typically try and dissuade this behavior. Me…

>Meanwhile indoor playgrounds/play centers are a huge and growing business. They are happy for parents to unleash their children while they make their money from entry charges, selling cups of coffee to the parents and snacks for the kids. There's a mom and pop place like this near me. They rented an old dead big box store (I remember shopping there when it was a Circuit City) and filled it with bounce houses and arc…

I wonder what kind of liability insurance, regulatory compliance, etc. is required for a business like this (in the US, where any injury to a child seems culturally likely to lead to a lawsuit). Mom-and-pop day cares exist in my area, so clearly it's possible to have a child-centered business without the backing of corporate lawyers -- but how big of a risk are they taking should something happen?
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