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ToysRUs - Closing Down Offers inc Consoles

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    #16
    Another thing was even as a kid I was impressed at their range of toys. I always liked the random science set I got for Christmas and a plaster of paris mould and paint sets I often hinted at to my mum on visits. I could find what I wanted even if it was sky high. Now its just a mess.

    I have a couple of very specific memories of the store at Teesside Park. I remember my mum gave me an ultimatum in the videogames section if I wanted a Playstation or Nintendo 64 for Christmas, as she had spoken to the lad in charge of the sector and, he told her enough to think a Playstation would be the better games console for a true gamer. I did think on it for a while but I still stuck with a Nintendo 64, which I went into great detail to her my reasoning (how I had always loved Nintendo, how I was impressed by the 3D graphics and more the controls of Mario 64 I had played at a neighbours, how I knew of several games I wanted to get in the future and how I was concerned about scratching game discs instead of cartridges.) My mum was really impressed and made a point of saying something of the lines of" I thought you just blew stuff up on those things".

    When Tamagotchi's became the must have gadget around that time I think 1998, my grandparents were visiting and said they would take us to the store early to queue and get one from 6am-ish. We got there and there were only about 3 people there so we went for breakfast as MacDonalds opposite the entrance to keep an eye on the door. My poor Nan dropped her coat in a puddle of coffee and I got my first taste of their cinnamon donuts (my Grandad shared his with me).
    I wanted one of the other digital pets (I think it was a monkey?) not Tamagotchi like my sister but as it became clear we'd defiantly get one, my granddad convinced me I should get the one that was popular. Staff were really nice and organised offering vouchers and special deals for those who waited. My grandad died suddenly later that year so it was one of my last memories of him.

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      #17
      Deffo sad to see it go but I couldn't see any other way, it's operating on the same ethos it did in the early 90s, it's been like this for well over a decade, dead, huge stores full of product with no staff or customers as everybody buys online or uses Argos. If it was a TV show, it would be The Simpsons.

      I will really miss the place, I've had some amazing gaming bargs in there, especially back in the 90s when they used to do these crazy bundles of NES and MD games, I remember picking up about 10 NES games in a bundle for about £20-£30, it was ridiculous.

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        #18
        You've summarised my feelings pretty well tbh Asura. Nothing against the company but I can definitely understand the point about them having large stores with little to no identity and limited staff numbers these days.

        I wish the staff the best with finding new roles in retail or elsewhere. Putting it bluntly, retailers/businesses need to evolve or they will fade away (or in this case go into administration and close).
        Last edited by Paddy; 09-03-2018, 12:40.

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          #19
          Same as Barnes and noble blaming Amazon yet waterstones are doing great.

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            #20
            Originally posted by Brad View Post
            Same as Barnes and noble blaming Amazon yet waterstones are doing great.
            Waterstones have excelled because they removed the control from their central management and placed more faith in the individual stores. While they have certain principles under which they operate, specific shops can be quite different, hosting local authors, running local events and altering their stock to suit their local demographics.

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              #21
              It's interesting that TRU never really attempted to downsize their stores to minimise the amount of excess stock and rent prices. Looking back they simply expected the market to magically fall back in their favour.

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                #22
                Originally posted by Superman Falls View Post
                It's interesting that TRU never really attempted to downsize their stores to minimise the amount of excess stock and rent prices. Looking back they simply expected the market to magically fall back in their favour.
                In fairness to them, I think it's because being the definitive huge toy store was part of their identity. It'd be like if tomorrow, market forces made it financially unfeasible to sell chicken; I don't think Nando's would pivot to selling cheeseburgers - they'd be more likely just to shut up shop.

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                  #23
                  Just watched this; it's a pretty good summary:

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