It was announced before Christmas that Toys R Us would be slimming down its UK estate to combat the threat of potential liquidation. As we reach the end of January 2018, the clearance sales are now underway in these stores.
I headed over to the store in Bolton, Lancashire to see what the closing down sale entails and what you may find on shelves. On arrival the store front is plastered with the Closing Down Sale offer which is "up to 30% off" and it is specifically headed as "This Store Only". Inside each section has a handwritten discount confirmation - not everything is 30%.
Now before I go any further I want to ask one thing if you check out a store near you that is closing - and that is to treat the employees in there with some respect and sensitivity. Most will be under a redundancy consultation and at risk of losing their income, and at the same time they have to serve a horde of bargain hunters descending on their store. Be nice while shopping...
Of course I headed for the Action Figures, which are 20% off the listed price. For Star Wars we didn't have a single Black Series figure or Last Jedi 3.75" basic figure on shelves, the only new stock were vehicles like the Canto Bight Speeder and the Tie Silencer, still at full price with the 20% of course to be knocked off at the till. This still doesn't make them the cheapest on market, so worth monitoring the vehicles for further reductions to get these to shift.
Marvel Legends was a similar story - with all figures for Thor Ragnarok missing. All we had on pegs were very old Spider-Man figures and the exclusive Groot, which may tempt some people as he is down to £19.99 + 20% off. DC from Mattel was perhaps the best stocked with a good quantity of the Justice League basic figures and some left over Suicide Squad figures. I had hoped to find the DC Collectible Arrow 2-pack which I had been eyeing in this store for a while - but it had either sold through or had "moved on".
To answer the question where the newer Star Wars and Marvel stuff has gone you only have to look at the Lego section which was completely bare. It seems Lego and the other higher profile stock has been shipped off to local stores or back into distribution.
We did make a purchase and impressively this resulted in us getting a voucher for use in local stores to try and retain customer loyalty. The voucher is valid in March 2018 - April 2018 and gives you £10 off a £20+ spend - a decent discount code to stick in your wallet for a further purchase.
Have you found any news to share from a local Toys R Us near you that is closing? Let us know in the comments below or on our social channels
Toys R Us Closure List 2018
Aberdeen Basingstoke Belfast Newtownabbey Birmingham St. Andrews Bolton Bradford Brislington Cambridge Cardiff Derry City Doncaster East Kilbride
Exeter Hayes Kirkcaldy Leicester Livingston Old Kent Road Plymouth Scunthorpe Shrewsbury Tamworth Tunbridge Wells Watford York Manchester Central Retail Park - already earmarked for closure pre CVA decision