As a parent, I can assure you that the market for Toys 'R' Us still exists. The problem is that to become a TRU requires a lot of capital. More than anyone is likely to risk in 2025.
It's sad. I would love to take my kids to a 90s TRU.
Worthwhile high capital business models are pursued all the time. The problem is that the business model is no longer competitive. If it was competitive it would be competing.
> I'm saying the market for what TRU provided had disappeared
The market still exists, doesn't it?
Kids still exist, kids still play with toys.
People simply buy toys from Amazon now, not TRU.
Just like people buy electronics from Amazon, not Best Buy/Circuit City.
And shoes from Amazon/Zappos, not Payless.
Seems like most retail markets still exist, they've just been cornered by the giant "Everything Store".
IMO, physical toy stores should be competitive to e-commerce with the right strategy. Simply going to the store could be an exciting adventure into itself, with higher fidelity discovery than a screen provides. Esp. post-COVID where people are opting more for analog/offline options after online/lockdown burnout.
Claiming TRU's market disappeared feels similar to claiming the bookstore market disappeared, yet Barnes and Noble had a well documented and surprising comeback by shifting strategy:
meaningless statement without quantity. kids don't play outside or with each other at the same rate as they did 35 years ago. video games and smart phones are vastly replacing physical toys.
The market exists at a far lower valuation. 90% of the sales will go to Walmart/Costco/Target/Amazon/Aliexpress/Kroger/etc, 10% will go to the remaining businesses.
You might go to the local toy store every now and then and pay 2x or more for the same toy just so your kid feels the ambiance of shopping in a toy store or supporting a local business, but the majority of your purchases will not happen there, certainly not enough to supporter the huge Toys R Us stores of the past.
In the UK the toy chains The Entertainer and Smyths both expanded to fill the market, both usually seem to have a decent amount of footfall. Toys are an interesting product as the target market is, for the most part, not an online shopper.
