The second largest bankruptcy in the 21st century has spread to Australia
Last night, toy retailer Toys`R`US announced a sad news:
The world toy chain will close all operations in Australia, including offline stores and online buying channels, because no suitable takeover buyer has been found.
Several Australian media have reported on this:
(smh:Toys`R`Us will close all Australian stores, leaving hundreds out of work)
(news.com.au: all Australia Toys`R`Us and Babies R Us will be closed)
(Nine:Toys R Us will be closed after bankruptcy and 700 people face unemployment)
It may not be clear to many Chinese who do not know enough about the brand, but in many countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, Britain and so on, the same is true of the childhood of several generations.
One of my favorite stores was closed, and my childhood was gone, someone even wrote a special picture at the time, saying: "my favorite store was closed when I was a child."
The closure of Toys R Us, however, is more than just "ruining childhood".
Because Toys R Us`s "collapse" around the world could be one of the biggest bankruptcy cases since the 21st century:
When, Toys R Us`s US head office filed an filing for bankruptcy protection with bankruptcy court in 2017, Bankruptcydata.com, a bankruptcy research firm, reckoned that: Toys R Us`s annual report showed its assets totaled $6.8 billion!
In other words, the bankruptcy was the second-largest bankruptcy in U.S. retail history after Kmart ($14.6 billion in assets), the chain that filed for bankruptcy protection in 2002.
Toys R Us`s Australian manager, McGrathNicol, said regretfully Wednesday night: "despite fruitful discussions with a number of stakeholders, all parties have now informed their managers that they have withdrawn from the sales process, so, Continued sales will not be possible, and now the business will be hit. "
2700 Australian employees to lose their jobs
According to the McGrathNicol announcement, the first to be closed will be Toys R Us`s online purchase business, which will be officially closed tomorrow (June 22), with, Toys R Us promising to deliver all items purchased before that to each customer.
In addition, the company`s main office and Sydney-based distribution center will be shut down for "the next few weeks."
Customers who hold Toys R Us gift cards will be able to end up using them by July 5, "for a price."
(photo source: news.com.au)
At present, many Toys R Us have put up the sign of "clearing price".
On Wednesday, McGrathNocol told more than 700 employees across the country who had lost their jobs as a result of the collapse of Toys R Us that they would receive "their share" from liquidation and asset sales.
Perhaps for the 700-odd employees who are about to lose their lives, this may be the best outcome, though helpless.
Once upon a time, these chain stores, carrying countless Australian children`s laughter;
Once upon a time, the employees of these 44 stores worked hard with a childlike and conscientious attitude, but no one would have thought that the world`s largest toy retailer went bankrupt and closed in 2017 and 2018 respectively. With the death of the founder, the fairy tale kingdom filled with toys became a ruin overnight.
It`s really sad.
3, why go to the end of the road?
There are two main reasons for the collapse of Toys R Us:
A, mistakes in online business
It is true that Toys R Us was once one of the world`s largest toy retailers, but the "biggest" advantage is still negligible compared to toy sales in large retail stores such as Wal-Mart and Target,Kmart.
And in the network business developed today, Toys R Us is more affected by Amazon and other more cost-effective network platform, their own network platform is done to let customers complain continuously, naturally slowly dropped the downside.
Neil Saunders, managing director of GlobalData Retail Research, believes that the continued loss of market share and growing competition for online toys has forced Toys R Us to lower prices against Target, Wal-Mart and Amazon, resulting in even less online investment. Caught in the "more and more poor" cycle.
B, the store is huge and invested too much
Neil Saunders also said that, Toys R Us used to take the same "box store" as Target, a "toy department store" that used to be a popular "toy department store", a large, diverse, and sprawling store with a wide range of stores.
Today, however, such stores can no longer mention the interests and needs of consumers, so turnover plummeted; Maintaining these stores will require considerable rent, labor and operating costs, leading to Toys R Us spending more than it earns and eventually filing for bankruptcy.
Sadly, almost all suppliers refused to ship to Toys R Us last year when it filed for bankruptcy and hoped that its many-year toy partners would provide their goods with final Christmas cash. The goods are to be delivered unless they are paid in cash in advance.
4. Bankruptcy is not a dead end.
Of course, bankruptcy does not mean that Toys R Us will eventually disappear into the whirlpool of the times.
As mentioned earlier, Kmart, the famous retail brand, was once on the brink of bankruptcy, but after taking over from Guy Russo, the former Australian McDonald`s president, in 2008, a field trip found that customers today are rarely willing to stay in stores for more than 20 minutes. So they prefer neat, clear stores rather than wasting their time on the selection of mixed and similar items, so Russo has introduced a series of radical reforms, including cutting product lines and renovating old stores. Withdraw from the poor performance of the business areas, reduce supply chain costs directly from manufacturers to purchase goods;
He has also developed a range of promotional strategies, ranging from regular discount promotions to "daily" low-cost strategies.
Today, Kmart may be the only department store in Australia where sales are falling, and Russo has "transferred" these experiences to Target,.
Finally, they say that the bankruptcy of "shopping malls such as battlefields", Toys R Us and the resurgence of Kmart tell us an important truth: the "big retail era" in which broad stores attract customers is over. In order to keep up with the times, we have to learn to give up and change. You can even "break your wrists" when needed in exchange for new life.
No matter where, do not seek stability, not change, but flexible to meet all the challenges.
