Posted on 03/20/2018 8:40:52 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
If you're a parent, you've had at least one passing discussion on the closure of Toys R Us. The mega-giant toy chain that ruled the childhoods of many of today's parents is shuttering nearly 200 stores this month. While bankruptcy is the official reason, it isn't the only or perhaps even the biggest reason why Geoffrey the Giraffe is being sent to the big zoo in the sky: Debt. Competition from online retailers like Amazon, as well as cheaper big-box stores like Wal-Mart and Target. Yes, bad customer service, too. All of these are the most commonly cited reasons for the ultimate failure of Toys R Us. But, hidden within their press release on the bankruptcy is a reason rooted in cultural trends, the stuff that ultimately makes or breaks economic indicators:
The decrease of birthrates in countries where we operate could negatively affect our business. Most of our end-customers are newborns and children and, as a result, our revenue are dependent on the birthrates in countries where we operate. In recent years, many countries’ birthrates have dropped or stagnated as their population ages, and education and income levels increase. A continued and significant decline in the number of newborns and children in these countries could have a material adverse effect on our operating results.
In other words, Americans just aren't having enough kids to justify the existence of that many toy stores.
Play out the low-birthrate factor and you'll realize that fewer kids over time equates to fewer consumers overall. Ten or twenty years from now we might see the same massive closures of the stores that are winning out over Toys R Us today. It isn't just that people are buying less due to the Great Recession. It's that there are fewer people to go out and buy anything at all. As The Washington Post reports:
The change in the number of children born in the previous 12 years (and thus sitting right within the Toys R Us demographic), tracks closely with the company’s changing annual revenue. ...it’s nonetheless apparent that Toys R Us’s fortunes rise and fall with the population of its target market.
And that’s why the company’s demise should worry the rest of us. Toys R Us focuses on kids, so it’s feeling the crunch from declining birthrates long before the rest of the economy. But it’s just a matter of time before the trends that toppled the troubled toy maker put the squeeze on businesses that cater to consumers of all ages.
In stark contrast to their failure in the American market, all 53 franchised Toys R Us stores in Israel will remain open. Israel is known for having the highest birth rate in the developed world. The average Israeli woman has three children, nearly double that of the average American woman. The Israeli fertility rate of 2.6 exceeds both the American rate of 1.9 and what's known as the "replacement rate" of 2.3. The "replacement rate" is what a nation needs to maintain in order to ensure long-term survival.
Less well off families with lots of kids usually pass down their toys instead of getting the latest fad.
The US Birthrate is not the problem..... the US ABORTION rate is the problem.
And add in the easy destruction of the family and men being sick and tired of divorce rape and not being able to see their kids.
Overpriced toys.
The stuff would sit on the shelves gathering dust and the stores looked lousy.
Unsupervised gibmedats letting their kids run wild in the stores tearing stuff up and never buying anything.
They never adjusted to the Amazon era unlike other box stores like Walmart and even Best Buy.
Go on any social media site and look at what the younger generations are saying. We have become a society enslaved to materialism. People want to spend money on education to get a leg up in the business world but wind up in debt with a useless piece of paper. They don’t even want to entertain the idea of having children.
Meanwhile, my wife and I have been trying for 5 years and have had no luck, but Billy Bob down the street has 5 little monsters and no job. I just don’t get it.
Idiocracy was a documentary.
I thought Toys R Us went bankrupt because they went from being a public company to a private company and then they could not service the $7.5 billion debt.
Dumb move for them going private.
"I like money."
My first visit to Toys R Us was fantastic; clean, neatly organized store and very friendly and knowledgeable staff. The staff wanted me to have a good experience, to find what I was looking for, and get out the door without a hassle. Over many years that was my Toys R Us experience. Many years close to Christmas my husband and I would go and shop for all the grand kids all at once and it was a nice experience.
My last Toys R Us visit was about 3 years ago, the store was not clean and organized, the staff acted like I was a bother, and they had no idea where things were and didn’t care to figure it out. I ended up wandering the store to find what I wanted and then it took forever to get checked out.
I think my experiences had something to do with their downfall. I know most retailers don’t worry about customer service any more but I know as a customer it is still important to me.
If I am going to be on my own with no direction from staff I will go to Walmart, Target, or order from Amazon. If Toys R Us would have treated me the same as they did in the past I would not have stopped shopping with them.
Christian countries are not reproducing, and the “new arrivals” don’t give their kids toys to play with. And Toysrus doesn’t sell toy bomb vests.
“With stats on Latino birth rates, a savy business executive would be stocking the stores for a changing demographic, not closing the stores.”
You’d think. Except 10 years ago H. J. HEINZ shuttered a couple of ketchup lines in favor of moving into salsa. It failed, though I suspect the timing was just a little too early.
I have nieces and nephews that are doing their part.
My contribution—I _never_ discuss the national debt (and who will pay it) when they are around. :-)
Let me put a finer point on this: Lower birthdates to families that can afford toys.
Single parent families are not big toy buyers.
At least since the 60s.
Oh, thank you for that tidbit.
I found ink cartridges on staples.com which cost more at the store. They honored the online price.
We’ve only seen one kid in the area in the last eight or ten years. Except the communist China immigrants have kids. But they keep them at home studying. They’re never allowed out on the streets
Oh, there are kids. 5-6 each to every Mexican woman.
There are MORE than enough illegal immigrant children being born here to keep Toys R Us busy, kids are not into toys any more they want video games and iPhones!!!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.