It’s a bad day for bricks and mortar retail as two companies have gone in to administration today. Video game retailer and kiddywink favourite Toys R Us has gone in to administration in the UK with up to 3,000 jobs at risk. The stores will stay open for the moment but the online service and click-and-collect will be closed immediately.
The company faces a £15 million tax bill, and the UK taxpayer also faces a hit as The Pension Protection Fund will have to pay out £38m to cover the collapsed retailers pension obligations. The retailers large out of town stores have failed to generate sales with analysts suggesting the company did not keep up with changing trends such as apps and tech toys.
Also facing the chop is high street tech store Maplin. The company is blaming “the slump in the pound after the Brexit vote, weak consumer confidence and a withdrawal of credit insurance,” for it’s failure. Maplin sells PC components, cables and other peripherals, will keep stores open at present with administrators PwC saying they would “explore all opportunities to find a new owner”.
JR.
Sad but inevitable.
They’ll probably turn them all into pound shops now. Ugh.
ron_mcphatty
‘How much is this then?’ never gets old.
Jake Durasamy
I’ll have to remember to clear out Toys R Us’ Amiibo selection.
gazzagb
And I might see if I can get a cheap Raspberry Pi from Maplin…
SamBeThyName
You can’t get a cheap anything from Maplins. That’s been their problem for ages – all their stuff costs twice as much as it does online, I can’t believe they haven’t folded years ago.
three_leg_jake
It’s a shame as they were useful twice a year to pick some small thing up in a hurry but that isn’t enough to keep a major retailer in business.