KB Toystores: RIP
KB Toys has entered bankruptcy and I don’t think it should be any surprise to anyone. They blame the holiday sales slump, but I think the real blame is the way they ran their stores. This may be a real instance of the weak getting separated from the herd.
At one point in my life, KB Toys was a magical wonderland. I didn’t get to go to Toys R Us a lot, but whenever we stopped at the mall I was always sure to hit up the KB. Over the years though, something changed. They had less and less toys I cared about and higher and higher prices. It wasn’t the fact I was growing older, either. Almost the whole front end of the store was taken over by generic toys that nobody should have bought, while the rest of the store was full of overpriced/old stock.
Even if they did have a figure that wasn’t at least six months too old to care about, why would anyone buy a G.I. Joe or Star Wars figure for ten bucks when only a minimum amount of effort could get you that same figure for at least three dollars less? That kind of pricing structure never made any sense to me. It’s the same thing that happened to Circut City and their ridiculous DVD pricing structure (or Media Play, Suncoast, etc.).
No, this really isn’t a big loss. While it’s sad that I won’t be able to take a possible offspring (or a Japanese made robo-child) to KB, it’s not like the store had that much meaning for me anymore. Now if Toys R Us goes under… that might be a little harder for me to take.
Thanks to: YoGoRe for giving me the heads up. Thanks to me for being slow with the news.
December 12th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I’m not sure it’s necessarily fair to blame the stores for their price structure; they had to pay mall rent and always got smaller quantities of stock, so it’s only logical their prices would be higher. That being said it may really BE a case of the weak being cut out of the herd…I’m just not sure it’s the weak’s fault for being weak. Without charging higher prices they wouldn’t be profitable anyway, I don’t think.
I worked at a KB for a little while in grad school, though I’m pretty sure that particular store closed years ago. It was in a mall that was clearly on its last legs anyway.
Still, sad to see another childhood toy-source down the drain.
Soon, there will be only Wal-Marts. I can see it now:
The United States of America, brought to you by Wal-Mart.
December 12th, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Sad to see them go. KB Toys was one of the few stores I’d check out always when at the mall.
December 12th, 2008 at 7:40 pm
Saw your post and linked to it. To be honest, I didn’t read yours all the way through before doing my own post in an attempt to preserve the integrity of my own blogging, but my thoughts pretty much echo yours.
Definitely not a big loss, though a bit of a sad nostalgic one. It’s a wonder they didn’t go out of business in the early 90s once TRU really took over.
December 13th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
that’s sad. KB was great to find stuff that was top of the market 3 years ago and discounted at an unbelievable price. I picked up my virtual boy and 4 games for a grand total of 35 bucks. got dennis hopper’s waterworld figure for $1.50, and a joe kubert g.i. joe figure for that too. the best was i picked practicly all the atrgate toys for 10 bucks. i’m sad now.
December 15th, 2008 at 3:21 am
@LastBestAngryMan: Wow you really beat the other eleven to death with their own shoes, huh? Talk about hung jury.
…
“The United States of America, brought to you by Wal-Mart.”
Spoiler Alert: Wall-E plot point
December 15th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Great story of your visits to KB. That was definitely one of my favorite stores to visit as a kid. Of course the one isle I always rushed to ended up being the most full! I was at a KB outlet store in Nor-Cal over the weekend. The good news is the entire store was 30% off. The bad news is, the entire store jacked their prices up 30% before the sale, so you’re still paying close to retail….if not, more.
December 15th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Yeah, I went to the one by me, and everything was still not on sale enough to warrant buying anything. Oh well…
January 17th, 2009 at 10:30 pm
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February 6th, 2009 at 1:04 am
I find it amusing that KB keeps sending out email newsletters, NONE of which have yet to mention they’re going out of business. It’s all “clearance sales”…