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Re:How vulture capitalists ate Toys 'R' Us by lmm on Monday April 23, 2018 @01:09PM (#16905311)
> A slowly dying company is still successfully serving some customers and employing people.

An unprofitable company is an overall loss by definition - sure it's providing some value to some people, but it's consuming more value than it produces.

Killing the company quickly frees up the things it was consuming to be used for more productive things. Those buildings can be used for better businesses, or replaced with housing or parks or what-have-you. Other companies can offer better jobs to those workers (we're at close to full employment at the moment, and declining companies are not fun or fulfilling places to work). Money that was invested in that company can be put to more productive work in other businesses.

Re:How vulture capitalists ate Toys 'R' Us by Spooky23 on Monday April 23, 2018 @01:24PM (#16905474)
This particular company was strategic as it served as a competitive counterbalance to discounters and online stores.

The impact of the death of ToysRUs will be significant to the toy industry as a whole, as Walmart/Target only devote a couple of hundred linear feet to toys, and Amazon has killed the little shops that powered the long tail.

Re:How vulture capitalists ate Toys 'R' Us by JumpCrisscross on Monday April 23, 2018 @01:58PM (#16905787)
A counterbalancing opinion:

"The departure of Toys 'R' Us from the retail landscape will give a boost to neighborhood toy shops.

That’s according to the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association, which predicted that 2018 will be the best year yet for neighborhood toy stores nationwide as consumers flock to these stores in the wake of the closure of Toys 'R' Us."

https://www.chainstoreage.com/finance-0/group-predicts-boom-...

Re:How vulture capitalists ate Toys 'R' Us by citizenkeen on Monday April 23, 2018 @02:09PM (#16905887)
Anybody who has ever forgotten your child's friend's birthday laments the loss of Toys R Us. Upon the closure announcement, I immediately added Picolo Mondo to Waze.
Re:How vulture capitalists ate Toys 'R' Us by Spooky23 on Monday April 23, 2018 @02:14PM (#16905940)
No doubt true, but the number of those stores has declined over time. My guess is you’ll see vertically integrated stores from LEGO and other brands pop up.
Re:How vulture capitalists ate Toys 'R' Us by kevin_thibedeau on Monday April 23, 2018 @02:14PM (#16905936)
Small comfort if you're selling large toys that small shops don't have the floor space to stock.
Re:How vulture capitalists ate Toys 'R' Us by gowld on Monday April 23, 2018 @04:01PM (#16906873)
No, it's not. "Profits" are after money sent to vendors and employees, who are profiting. Only shareholders are losing in an unprofitable company.
Re:How vulture capitalists ate Toys 'R' Us by lmm on Tuesday April 24, 2018 @04:48AM (#16910968)
Vendors and employees are presumably receiving a fair market value for their services; in a competitive market one buyer more or less won't make a significant difference.
Re:How vulture capitalists ate Toys 'R' Us by Retric on Tuesday April 24, 2018 @09:57AM (#16912582)
I don't think the toy store market is that competitive right now. Vendors can try to get into a big box stores small selection, but for large toys they are mostly stuck online only.
Re:How vulture capitalists ate Toys 'R' Us by lmm on Wednesday April 25, 2018 @05:40AM (#16919928)
Well if Toys R Us were operating at unsustainable cash-burn, it's not surprising that functional businesses weren't able to compete. With them gone, the market opens up for toy stores that charge enough to pay their overheads and operate as viable businesses. (Or maybe customers simply aren't willing to pay the premium that that costs compared to online, because they don't get that much value out of physical stores).

To the extent that vendors were relying on being propped up by an unprofitable Toys R Us who bought their product for more than it was worth, it's the same effect one level up: those vendors were consuming more value than they produced.