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Top-Toy Declares Bankruptcy: Nordic Chain of Stores Includes BR Toys and Toys R Us

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TFW2005 member Axos shares sad news for our fellow Transformers fans in Scandinavia, noting the impending closure of Top-Toy which operates a regional chain of 295 BR Toys and Toys R Us stores employing over 2100 full time employees. This caps a year in which thousands of other employees lost their jobs as multiple business associated with Toys R Us continue to deal with the ripple effects of its revamped scale in the U.S. and ceased operations in the U.K. and Australia.

In March, Top-Toy initially took the stance of being able to ride out the impending storm:

“TOP-TOY independently operates TOYS”R”US in the Nordics under a long-term license and TOP-TOY and Toys”R”Us Inc. have no common ownership. TOP-TOY is of course monitoring the situation in the US and UK closely; but cannot speculate in the future of the Toys”R”Us brand. TOP-TOY can however assure that TOP-TOY’s stores will continue to sell toys to the children in the Nordic countries, regardless of what should happen to Toys”R”Us Inc.”

However, disappointing Christmas sales, increased digitisation, a higher number of competitors and changing play habits among children proved to be an insurmountable combination of factors that first resulted in a Danish court approved restructuring plan intended to close unprofitable stores and finally bankruptcy. A number of stores will remain open until tomorrow.

“We will today initiate discussions with the creditors on how to handle the bankruptcy estate. We can, however, advise that some stores will remain open for customers to be able to exchange their purchases to other products in these stores until end December,” says attorney Søren Aamann Jensen from Kromann Reumert, who has been appointed trustee together with attorney John Sommer Schmidt from Gorissen Federspiel.

Read the customer FAQ and recent press releases here, then share your thoughts on the 2005 boards!

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AzT Avatar

Reports indicate Top-Toy has secured a buyer for BR | Toy World Magazine

Salling Group has entered into an agreement to buy large parts of the Top-Toy-owned retailer, which went bankrupt in December.

As reported by Børsen, the agreement, which Salling has entered into with the bankruptcy estate’s curators, allegedly involves both the acquisition of Fätter BR’s inventories, trademark rights and the acquisition of a number of the stores in Denmark.

Salling’s communications director, Mads Hvitved Grand, originally neither confirmed nor denied the deal when asked by reporters.

The acquisition is likely to be welcomed by creditors who are currently waiting to receive some of the money owed to bankrupt Top-Toy. However, the Danish Competition and Consumer Agency must first approve the deal before it can proceed.

The online store Coolshop was reported to have expressed interest in acquiring BR’s inventory and stores. Owner Jacob Risgaard allegedly offered DKK 65m, but it was not enough to secure a deal.

In a post on LinkedIn, The CEO of Salling Group, Per Bank, commented: “Great news today, as Salling Group has reached an agreement to take over from Top-Toy. The agreement, involving stock and IP-rights to the BR-brand, marks a strategically important deal for Salling Group, as competition in the toy market has intensified in recent years. With this deal, we ensure that toys remain an important part of the customers’ shopping opportunities in the physical stores throughout the country, and that toy sales do not only move to foreign online shops.”

He added: “It is always regrettable when competent employees in the industry lose their jobs following bankruptcy and store closures. But with 1,500 vacant jobs in Salling Group, hopefully we will be able to offer new opportunities to many of the skilled former Top-Toy employees. Until then, with this agreement we ensure that the rights to a brand with a long legacy in Denmark remains Danish owned.”

Salling Group indgår aftale om at købe Fætter BR-rester

Gepard Avatar
Nevermore

It's the culmination of greedy egotism at work. Everyone eating everyone. In the end, there will only be one, who then goes to cannibalize himself.

Pictured:
[​IMG]

Obligatory addition about how unfortunate this is for European collectors, to avoid being off-topic. Society is shifting in ways that make it unfavorable to toy companies, and I'm not sure what we can do about it, if anything. Who knows, the next generation here may be the last to grow up with "traditional" toys at all.

RKillian Avatar

Retail landscape gets uglier every day. The next recession could turn into a depression fast.

AzT Avatar

From The Copenhagen Post – Danish News in English

Toy stores closed as potential buyers wait in the wings
The January sale at five Fætter BR and 21 Toys”R”Us stores – the only remaining shops in Denmark following the bankruptcy of their owner Top-Toy – has been scrapped. However, it might not be bad news for the remaining employees, as new buyers are showing interest in acquiring some of Top-Toy’s assets, including the supermarket giants Coop and the Salling Group. In total, 1,200 employees have lost their jobs. Discount sales in Sweden and Finland are still planned.

AzT Avatar

TOP-TOY | Big sale in Sweden and Finland

When 38 selected BR Toys and TOYS”R”US stores open in Sweden and Finland on January 16th, it will kick-off a big sale with 50% off everything. It will be first come, first served, so do not wait too long to visit.

In Sweden, 28 stores will open and in Finland 10 stores will be open. The full list of open stores as well as updated customer rights are available here.

The trustees and TOP-TOY employees have been working hard to get everything in place for the big sale, amongst others by moving products from the closed stores to the open ones to ensure that they are full of good deals.

The stores will stay open as long as there are still relevant products to sell, so no end date for the big sale is set yet, but you can stay updated here at http://www.top-toy.com. It is not possible to shop online with BR Toys and TOYS”R”US anylonger, so visit one of the open stores.

AzT Avatar

TOYS"R"US | Danmarks største udvalg af legetøj til lave priser

BR | Din destination for legetøj til små og store børn

TOP-TOY | Click&Collect orders in Denmark, Finland and Sweden

If you have made a Click&Collect-order to a store which is no longer open, your order will be cancelled and refunded. You will receive an e-mail with info when the cancellation has been finalised.

Hvis du har lavet en Click&Collect-ordre til en butik, som er lukket, vil din ordre blive annulleret og tilbagebetalt. Du modtager en e-mail med yderligere information, når annullering er gennemført.

Om du har lagt en Click&Collect-order som skickats till en butik som inte längre är öppen så kommer denna order annulleras och återbetalas. Du mottager ett mail med information när annulleringen är genomförd.

G.B. Blackrock Avatar

Since this is the 11th (and at least that all over the world, right?), I take it that this has now already happened?

RKillian Avatar

And that's terrible because it's so much easier to destroy than to create. Having had such a hard time at the ground level made the collapse of Toys R Us here in the US even worse for me. When KB collapsed, absolutely nothing replaced it, and I knew it would be the same with TRU. All of these operations scorch the earth and then burn out.

Nevermore Avatar
RKillian

It's ridiculous. Having been on many sides of this, what I see is that everybody wants to take it all and nobody is willing to give an inch. The manufacturer won't take any risks, pay any wages, or deal with any people. The distributor won't tell you anything, take responsibility for anything, or leave any profit for their "partners." The retailer won't take preorders, break up cases, or even stock their shelves half the time. The customer won't pay for anything, including shipping, and their sense of urgency is inversely proportional to availability (if I have it, you take months or years, if I don't, you stamp your feet NOW NOW NOW YOU SUCK I GOTO WALLSMART). It's a gigantic shit show is what it is. I wanted to make more GoBots several years ago and there turned out to be no way for me to ever make the $50M required for anybody to return my calls short of winning the fucking lottery and (not or) taking hostages on live TV.

It's the culmination of greedy egotism at work. Everyone eating everyone. In the end, there will only be one, who then goes to cannibalize himself.

RKillian Avatar
Aimless Misfire

Worldwide collapse. Slow steady decline of everything.

It's ridiculous. Having been on many sides of this, what I see is that everybody wants to take it all and nobody is willing to give an inch. The manufacturer won't take any risks, pay any wages, or deal with any people. The distributor won't tell you anything, take responsibility for anything, or leave any profit for their "partners." The retailer won't take preorders, break up cases, or even stock their shelves half the time. The customer won't pay for anything, including shipping, and their sense of urgency is inversely proportional to availability (if I have it, you take months or years, if I don't, you stamp your feet NOW NOW NOW YOU SUCK I GOTO WALLSMART). It's a gigantic shit show is what it is. I wanted to make more GoBots several years ago and there turned out to be no way for me to ever make the $50M required for anybody to return my calls short of winning the fucking lottery and (not or) taking hostages on live TV.

AzT Avatar

TOP-TOY | Read about customer rights in local language

TOP-TOY | Some BR Toys and TOYS”R”US stores are open

Preparing for a big sale in January, 64 BR Toys and TOYS”R”US stores are now open.

This means that customers can until further notice exchange their purchases made on or after November 30th, 2018 as well as use gift cards issued after November 30th, 2018. Customer can of course shop both online and in the open stores as always.

However, customers are advised to acquaint themselves with the consumer rights, which are changed due to the bankruptcy TOP-TOY, who is operating the two chains. The detailed descriptions can be found here.

In Denmark, five BR Toys and 21 TOYS”R”US stores are opened, while Sweden will have six BR Toys stores and 22 TOYS”R”US stores open. In Finland, two BR Toys and eight TOYS”R”US are open. The list of open stores is below.

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