Corrected: Toys R Us to shutdown all stores

[Puffnstuff]

CNN is reporting that they are set to close their UK stores and might close their NA stores as early as next week. For the UK the combined loss of TRU and another retailer will be around 5,300 jobs but no figures are given for NA.

I know we've seen this one coming but it always hurts for those who are directly involved with the operation.

http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/09/investing/toys-r-us-closing-hasbro-mattel/index.html

 

[K1052]

Probable start of a large waive of retailers and landlords going tits up over the next couple years.

 

[Svnla]

Today's WSJ says TRU could declare that it would close all stores in NA as early as this coming Monday.

I better use up the $20 GC from TRU soon.

 

[vi edit]

Amazon adds another kill stripe to the side of it's HQ.

 

[UNCjigga]

Saw this and that Claire's (i.e. the place where every girl gets their ears pierced) are filing for bankruptcy. I can imagine that in only a few more years, most malls will be empty save for the tumbleweeds.

 

[dullard]

Amazon adds another kill stripe to the side of it's HQ.

Partly. It would be more accurate to say it adds another stripe to the side of leveraged buyouts.

What a great idea, have a company borrow infinite amounts of money, pocket a billion of that loan money for myself, then see if the company can survive. If not, no real harm done as I have my billion. Rinse and repeat.

 

[vi edit]

Partly. It would be more accurate to say it adds another stripe to the side of leveraged buyouts.

What a great idea, have a company borrow infinite amounts of money, pocket a billion of that loan money for myself, then see if the company can survive. If not, no real harm done as I have my billion. Rinse and repeat.

Isn't that the Trump business model?

 

[K1052]

Partly. It would be more accurate to say it adds another stripe to the side of leveraged buyouts.

What a great idea, have a company borrow infinite amounts of money, pocket a billion of that loan money for myself, then see if the company can survive. If not, no real harm done as I have my billion. Rinse and repeat.

Lots of these deals are basically the scene in Goodfellas where they take a stake in the bar and wring it out for all it's worth before burning it down for the insurance money.

 

[fskimospy]

Partly. It would be more accurate to say it adds another stripe to the side of leveraged buyouts.

What a great idea, have a company borrow infinite amounts of money, pocket a billion of that loan money for myself, then see if the company can survive. If not, no real harm done as I have my billion. Rinse and repeat.

It's amazing to me that it's legal for a company to go millions in debt to buy themselves.

 

[brycejones]

Partly. It would be more accurate to say it adds another stripe to the side of leveraged buyouts.

What a great idea, have a company borrow infinite amounts of money, pocket a billion of that loan money for myself, then see if the company can survive. If not, no real harm done as I have my billion. Rinse and repeat.

So much this. The business was loaded down with massive amounts of debt to the new owners and on the hook for $400M a year in interest payments. This basically took all the positive cash flow for the company and left very little to invest in the underlying business.

TLDR:

Wall street got their cut, the business was run into the ground.

 

[dullard]

Wall street got their cut, the business was run into the ground.

Which is perfectly fine as long as we ignore the shoppers, employees, lenders, and businesses that sold to Toys R Us. But, I can't see them through the wads of cash that I'm holding, so they don't exist.

 

[Sonikku]

Anyone watch The Toy Box? They're always harping about how a successful toy at the end of the season with get this big grand EXCLUSIVE deal to sell their new toy idea solely in Toys R Us. Not looking like such a good deal now...

 

[brycejones]

Which is perfectly fine as long as we ignore the shoppers, employees, lenders, and businesses that sold to Toys R Us. But, I can't see them through the wads of cash that I'm holding, so they don't exist.

In Wall Street you eat what you kill.

 

[Sonikku]

Which is perfectly fine as long as we ignore the shoppers, employees, lenders, and businesses that sold to Toys R Us. But, I can't see them through the wads of cash that I'm holding, so they don't exist.

I think my chief problem with the GoP is that they complain it isn't sustainable to have too many takers and not enough makers, yet the focus exclusively on poor people getting a hundred or so odd foodstamps a month to feed their families. They do nothing about the big takers that have made multi million if not billion dollar business models built off of enriching the few at the expense of the many. They at best ignore said behavior and at worse reinforce it, to the detriment of us all.

 

[Meghan54]

What I find rather distasteful is the current regime's instance on "saving coal", and industry that currently employs 52,000 people, yet be completely oblivious to the current retail struggles, which will impact many more people.

Toys R Us employs 65,000 in the U.S. Sears, another looming fatality, employs 140,000. JCPenney employs 106,000---another very ripe for BK. TRU by itself dumps more employees as the entire coal industry employs.

The coal industry shutting down today would impact small areas of the country while the stores above will impact almost every city in the U.S. Guess spreading the hurt is good? And the types of jobs being lost....basically unskilled but decent pay, esp. for women....won't be regained any time soon.

 

[Bitek]

Isn't that the Trump business model?

Yeah, he's trying it out now on the US Treasury.
---


So when will Trump announce tariffs (on ???) to protect honest retail workers in the heartland who are losing jobs in magnitudes over coal workers?

Oh yeah, he doesn't give a shit about them.
But f it, never liked shopping @ TRU anyway.

 

[sandorski]

The Internet is the main reason for these Retailer bankruptcies. Many will fail, but eventually it should level out.

 

[Pipeline 1010]

It's amazing to me that it's legal for a company to go millions in debt to buy themselves.

Why? The people lending the money do so willingly and calculatedly. These guys are killers and they know what they are doing when they lend this money. They wouldn't have money to lend if they didn't usually get it right. They got it wrong this time.

 

[FeuerFrei]

So glad companies are free to fail. Vital to a healthy market.

 

[Puffnstuff]

Toys R Us employs 65,000 in the U.S.

I'm looking at Bloomberg and they state 64k employees which is irrelevant to each one of them when they stand to lose their livelihood. If you look at the Feb 23rd latest developments paragraph they expect to close 182 stores by April 16th, however, a lot can change in two weeks which is where we are today.

Their official website is creepy crawling right now but I did find their most current 8k filing.
https://www.toysrusinc.com/investor...9MCZTUURFU0M9U0VDVElPTl9FTlRJUkUmc3Vic2lkPTU3

In that statement they acknowledge losing funding from Deutsche Bank AG.

 

[FeuerFrei]

I imagine once the news gets out your company is "struggling" customers / lenders tend to stay away. Sucks.

 

[ch33zw1z]

So glad companies are free to fail. Vital to a healthy market.

Only some get that luxury.

 

[FeuerFrei]

Only some get that luxury.

Right. As long as we avoid federal bailouts, I won't complain. Private sector can finance what they want.

 

[ch33zw1z]

Right. As long as we avoid federal bailouts, I won't complain. Private sector can finance what they want.

Avoid federal bailouts lol....sure sure, and pigs can fly. TRU won't get one, they're not a financial institute that's too big to fail after fucking over citizens for a while. But dont you worry, the next one is in the works, just like every single one before it. You didn't think '08 was the first time, right?

 

[FeuerFrei]

Avoid federal bailouts lol....sure sure, and pigs can fly. TRU won't get one, they're not a financial institute that's too big to fail after fucking over citizens for a while. But dont you worry, the next one is in the works, just like every single one before it. You didn't think '08 was the first time, right?

I just like a hands off policy. The likelihood of such a policy, is another matter.
I think most would find the very idea of a federal TrUs bailout laughable. I'm not suggesting it was ever in the cards.