3,200 jobs at risk at Toys R Us

[Chippy_Tea]

We used to make the annual trek to Toys R Us every Christmas when my lad was a nipper (many moons ago) and as it was 100+ miles away we used to make a day of it also visiting other stores on the big industrial estate, i guess the internet has killed it as it has so many other businesses.



The directors of Toys R Us's British chain are preparing to appoint administrators early next week in a move that will threaten more than 3,000 jobs on an already-troubled high street.

Sky News has learnt that bosses from the ailing chain met officials from the Pension Protection Fund (PPF) on Friday to notify them of the impending move amid fading hopes of a rescue deal.

Toys R Us UK has been engaged in a frantic search for a buyer for the last month following weak Christmas trading which has left it with little hope of paying a £15m VAT bill due on Tuesday.

Sources said that the directors of the UK's biggest toy retailer were likely to appoint administrators on Tuesday morning barring the emergence of a last-minute financial package to keep it afloat.

One insider said that such a prospect was "very, very remote" on Friday evening.

Moorfields, a corporate recovery specialist which worked on the administration of the DVD rental chain Blockbuster five years ago, is said to have been put on standby to oversee Toys R Us's potential insolvency.

With only three days before the VAT bill is understood to be payable, hopes of finding a rescue backer for the chain, which trades from more than 100 stores, have dwindled.

Alteri Investors, an acquirer of distressed retailers, and Hilco Capital, which salvaged the music chain HMV in 2013, have both held talks with Toys R Us UK in the last fortnight but have baulked at the complexity of a deal.

Read in full - https://news.sky.com/story/3200-jobs-at-risk-as-toys-r-us-uk-lines-up-administrator-11264021

 

[Leon103]

no surprise. went there before Xmas and noticed the toys were at least 30% more expensive than other outlets

 

[Chippy_Tea]

I guessed that would be the case it makes you wonder how much longer these types of huge stores on retail parks will last surely their days are numbered.

 

[Leon103]

I found you can get the same toys in places like bm bargains so much cheaper. not sure what online presence toys r us have but I never think to check their site come Xmas time

 

[marshbrewer]

Dunno if its that simple ~ Smyths and The Entertainer, who also have large stores and a high street presence, have been kicking Toys R Us's **** for ages, both in terms of price and the state of the stores.

It didn't surprise me or my better half when we heard they were in trouble.

 

[GerritT]

Wrong business model. They didn't evolve well into the internet age.
hashtag evolution

 

[Norfolk79]

Trouble with toys r us it’s like a free day out for the kids. Parents take their kids along to “play”, decide what they’d like, and then leave and buy what the kids want for cheaper elsewhere.

 

[MickDundee]

It didn't surprise me or my better half when we heard they were in trouble.

I got an inkling they were in trouble when they closed the Dundee store after a minor fire for “renovations” and it looked exactly the same, shabby cracked floor tiles and all, when it reopened!

 

[Dutto]

Don't worry, they won't be unemployed for long. :wave:

Next year they can join the 4,000 people that British Gas are about to let go and come to Lincolnshire to pick vegetables!

Okay, they may have to work on a "Zero Hours" contract for an absolute pittance and live in a small filthy caravan with five other pickers, but at least we will have got rid of those Johnny Foreigner fellows that are picking vegetables today!:thumb:

 

[Ciaran12s]

Don't worry, they won't be unemployed for long. :wave:

Next year they can join the 4,000 people that British Gas are about to let go and come to Lincolnshire to pick vegetables!

Okay, they may have to work on a "Zero Hours" contract for an absolute pittance and live in a small filthy caravan with five other pickers, but at least we will have got rid of those Johnny Foreigner fellows that are picking vegetables today!:thumb:

Simples

 

[BeerisGOD]

no surprise. went there before Xmas and noticed the toys were at least 30% more expensive than other outlets

Yea agreed. Whenever my misses mentioned them id say ' do you wanna try amazon first?'

 

[Ciaran12s]

It is a shame but Amazon, as the best example in my house, is usually cheaper or the same price as "physical" shops, and a whole lot handier especially when you've got wee ones.

Jobs lost through store closures are counterracted by jobs created in warehouses, delivery drivers, web designers, IT etc. That doesn't help those affected though.

It seems to me that the least important thing in our society today is that people have secure, well paid jobs. The most important thing seems to be that businesses can maximise profit margins by whatever means necessary.

 

[simon12]

Amazon is likely the main competition for nearly every product sold online or not they are nearly always the cheapest for just about any product you could want, this at the moment at least is good for consumers but have you seen the crazy robots in there warehouse and they have even opened supermarkets in the US with no checkouts they certainly don't employ hardly any people compared to any of there competition.

 

[Covrich]

Yeah never shop at Toys R us.. Smyths toys and entertainer are better price wise. Often better than Amazon too. Even Argos are cheaper than Toys R Us

 

[Dutto]

Amazon is likely the main competition ............. they certainly don't employ hardly any people compared to any of there competition.

Apparently, they also pay hardly any UK tax. :wave:

 

[simon12]

Apparently, they also pay hardly any UK tax. :wave:

Hardly and tax in the rest or Europe or the US as well plus they keep getting grants from the government. Our tax system is just not fit for purpose when it comes to these large companies and despite getting little tax from them we still give them money in these grants. Note they do now pay VAT on everything and all there staff pay income tax etc its just cooperation tax they avoid, not saying that makes it OK.

 

[Dutto]

............ and all there staff pay income tax etc.............

The only problem with that is (if the recent crisis at KFC is anything to go by) most of their employees are on part-time zero hour contracts (many KFC staff were temporarily laid off without any pay or compensation) and don't pay any taxes because they are already on State Benefits to supplement their low wages.:wave:

I do agree that the UK tax laws are "not fit for purpose"; but only if you are on the PAYE system. For everyone else, it's "Back to the trough!" time.:thumb: