>>7383749Mitt and Bain Capital were more like just part of the equation. What was happening was:
1. Only 35% of our merchandise in store was selling
2. We needed to downsize stores, there were too many as it was. When we closed some prior to Christmas, we actually had a record number of sales at each store, because business wasn't as spread out.
3. Stores like Walmart were dominiating when it came to baby clothes and furniture, which was a sink hole for us. Had we not shut down all stores, we were going to discontinue those things and shut down Babies R Us.
4. An over reliance by the toy industry to base toys off of established media, such as movies. Everything had to have a media tie-in, and if it didn't, it wasn't being sold anymore: GI Joe for example was a TRU exclusive which actually sold fairly well and was sold in the adult collectibles section. However Hasbro discontinued it when TRU said they couldn't afford to take a hit on ordering vehicles for the line, so Hasbro pulled the plug, saying that even though the line was profitable and being sustained by adult collectors, they really felt they could make MORE money from kids with a new movie, saying kids had more of a disposable income since they bought toys more than adults.
Star Wars probably raped us the most and was kind of a running joke with the shut downs. You'd see things like FA Millennium Falcons and the At-ACT, and the Snoke playset all marked down by like half, and still not selling, and with tons of them littering the shelves.
Star Wars at retail in general is dying, and if it were any other toy line Hasbro would have pulled the plug on it and started over. I suspect Disney forces a certain number of decisions on them, and various sites have estimated that Hasbro makes a very slim profit from the figures on account of the obscene cut of profits Disney/Lucas Film gets out of the toys.
