[HN Gopher] Inside the Rise and Fall of Toys 'R' Us (2018)
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       Inside the Rise and Fall of Toys 'R' Us (2018)
        
       Author : indigodaddy
       Score  : 14 points
       Date   : 2025-04-20 20:09 UTC (2 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.history.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.history.com)
        
       | mjevans wrote:
       | The fall isn't covered in very much detail.
       | 
       | I think it might be exemplified by a personal example. I went to
       | one near the end to buy a standard, wooden block, JENGA toy for
       | relatives. They didn't have any in stock other than some crummy
       | cardboard sticks version (absolutely unable to stand up to the
       | abuse a child under 12 will dish out). I think I ended up
       | ordering one from Amazon with Prime or hitting up a Target or
       | something...
       | 
       | As for the 'category killer' thing, that's probably an example of
       | Market Failure (regulation failure). For a fungible commodity
       | product, there probably should be a requirement to provide access
       | to the same price to all players in the market. That might mean
       | that the price at a generic warehouse in one of the major
       | shipping ports is that price. Stores / groups of stores would
       | still need to leverage shipping and distribution networks, but
       | it'd at least give places a _chance_ to compete.
        
         | jordanb wrote:
         | > they didn't have any in stock other than some crummy
         | cardboard sticks version
         | 
         | Private Equity hates inventory. Their first trick in buying a
         | retail business is slashing in-store inventory. They also treat
         | suppliers like dogshit, playing games with payment terms, etc.
         | End result: stores don't have the products customers want and
         | quality suppliers fire them as customers.
        
           | ferguess_k wrote:
           | How do PEs earn money in this scenario? I don't think it can
           | spin off the brand easily? Or by real estate?
        
             | filmgirlcw wrote:
             | Debt
        
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       (page generated 2025-04-22 23:00 UTC)