Toys R Us

Specialty Toys, Inc., sells a variety of new and innovative children’s toys. Management learned that the preholiday season is the best time to introduce a new toy, because many families use this time to look for new ideas for December holiday gifts. When Specialty discovers a new toy with good market potential, it chooses an October market entry date.

Toys R Us is the world's largest children's specialty retailer. The company operates toy stores throughout the world and is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange. In this paper I will give a brief company history, cite where the competitive environment is coming from, strategies that were attempted, and where they stand today.

ustralian groceries market was very fragmented during the 19th century and was typically solely operated, region specific and served a very small community. Improvements came about in the 20th century with the development of supermarkets which provided one stop shop for its customers (Deloitte, 2012). The supermarket and grocery sector is a major contributor to the retail turnover of Australia, (Alexander) with revenues in excess of A $ 80 Billion in 2013-2014 contributing to a little over 7% of the economy while the grocery industry alone contributes approximate 20% of that of the supermarket and the grocery sector. The industry also employs well over 280,000 people (Tonkin, 2014).

Companies in the retail industry operate in a high price elasticity environment as there is not much product differentiation to leverage. Buyers face almost no switching cost if they chose a substitute offering better value. On the contrary, large and diverse population making small purchases works in favor of the industry. No one individual or a small group has the power to significantly impact the industry, but overall buyers enjoy have a high bargaining power in the industry.

On the morning of January 17, 1993, before the annual buying trip to Germany for the 1993 Christmas season, the toy buyer for the chain of Hightower Department Stores named Julia Brown was reviewing the performance of some models of stuffed animals tested for sales during 1992. Every time Julia’s on the trip, she would buy some stuffed animals for testing. Fifty was the minimum amount the manufacturers require. Based on Julia’s years of buying experience, the tested result would give Julia a clear estimation about how many new stuffed animals she needed to order. Figure 1 in below shows the timeline of how Julia buys the toys for the company:

productivity per square foot double that of the retailer’s nearest competitor. 5 By 1988, Toys “R” Us

Through studying the entire retail toy industry, we have been able to understand the complexity of the industry in which Toys "R" Us operates. Upon completion of the analysis, we realized that the industry is growing stably,

just building blocks.  Due to the different segments that make up the toy industry, buyer power is

In the past, the toy business was just an annex of the publishing industry. Little effort was invested in toys which were not even mentioned strategic plans. Now the toy industry is the second-highest profit maker in Marvel, generating over $20 billion in sales in 2003. The toy business is very promising in the future. However its percentage in revenue will still remain stable or slightly decrease, just as publishing will do, because licensing has such a strong possibility for growth. In addition, while the toy industry competition is too fierce to permit further achievements.

This paper researched the fact that the Toys “R” Us Company was displaying a weakness in financial related issues due to the lack of proper strategic planning. This made the company susceptible to many threats in the industry’s competitive environment. The research has shown that its main competitors Walmart, Target, and Amazon are functioning successfully in the industry while Toys R Us heads for bankruptcy. This research emphasizes the fact that Toys R Us has not taken steps to strategize its operations properly which resulted in a loss of revenue and opportunities in their environment. If the company does not take steps to better its strategic planning, the company will not

Hasbro conducts business within the Toy, Game and Doll Manufacturing industry. They have strong, brand portfolio that they utilize in a wide variety of entertainment mediums. Hasbro categorizes their brands into four categories which they call their brand architecture: franchise, partner, gaming mega, and challenger brands. Their franchise brands are owned by them and they currently make most of their revenue from these brands. However, their partner brands are quickly becoming more important to their business as a majority the company’s growth recently has come from new ones. In addition to the brand architecture, they report the financial performance of their brands by grouping them into four different categories: boys, girls, games, and preschool. Boys and games has been a majority of their business mostly, but that is beginning to change recently as their girl brands are beginning to grow. (10K and Hasbro quarterly reports).Hasbro is a global company that has sales around the world. They report their sales in four segments: US/ Canada, International, Entertainment and Licensing, and Global Operations. The International segment is further segmented into Europe, Latin America, and Asia/Pacific, where they directly operate (10K). Within these segments and brands, it is difficult to identify which toys and games are their core items because they have almost 2,700 individual products that they currently sell in addition to their non-toy items, digital games,

Toys R Us is one of UK’s leading toy and game retailer. This report conducts an academic research focus on Toys R Us (UK) in toys and games retailing sector. In the first part of this report, we will discuss the toys and games industry background and the overview of Toys R Us. Then, the research will focus on Poster’s Five Force Model and Porter’s Generic Strategies. In the next parts, this report will concentrated on the potential strategies which Toys R Us might pursue in the future. Conclusion and recommendation will be mention in the final part of this report and the recommendation will be covered the best strategy for Toys R Us which can be used for the future competitiveness.

Internationally, the company operates toy stores under the name Toys R Us. It also sells merchandise through its Internet sites and through mail order catalogues. Its products include:

Answer3 Has Toys “R” Us chosen the best entry strategy for the Japanese market? Has it chosen the right partner?

Japan was a seller’s market until the 1970s, but as profits decline in the late 1980s, a buyer’s market began, necessitating reform in the retail industry. Reason for this shift was ownership of objects was very high among Japanese consumers. “Toshifumi Suzuki, Chairman and CEO of Seven & I Holding”