Today Toys R Us in the UK went into administration. This is similar to Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in the US, where an insolvent business can continue trading under certain conditions. Sometimes companies can continue trading but the picture looks bleak for Toys R Us because they already tried a Company Voluntary Agreement (a voluntary version of administration where the companies owed money agree to allow the insolvent business to carry on trading rather than force them into adminstration) and obviously this failed.
If the next step is liquidation (selling everything they can and closing the business) then this may mean it is no longer possible to buy Journey Girls in the UK. The other Toys R Us businesses in America and around the world are not affected by the UK company, which (although a subsidiary of the US Toys R Us) trades as a separate business.
The picture had been somewhat bleak already for Journey Girls, with my two local stores no longer stocking any dolls, but having a small selection of accessory and outfit sets in a reduced section hidden in the baby doll aisle. Before Christmas the range was fairly decent, albeit much more restricted than what is on offer in America, Australia and other countries. In the last two iterations (and possibly longer) we had only four dolls from the main series released: Kelsey, Kyla, Meredith and Dana. We had fewer outfits and none of the underwear/sock sets, no pets and very little of the furniture and other accessories.
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| Meredith has been sold out for weeks |
Meredith has been sold out online and in store for several weeks and the other dolls have been unavailable online. With online shopping and click and collect shut down from today, Journey Girl fans are reduced to what is available in their local Toys R Us, as long as the stores continue trading.
The bigger picture is that many job losses are likely and employees' pensions will be reduced. The UK will probably lose a toy store chain that is not particularly well liked (the stores are big and impersonal, and in my experience recently, untidy and unloved. The toilets/restrooms in particular were dirty and in need of refurbishment) and other, better toy shops and retailers will fill the gap.
But if you loved the Journey Girls dolls, for their faces, their unusual half-vinyl torsos (unique to chain store dolls in the UK, as far as I know) or their fashion, then you may like me be sad to see Toys R Us go. I hope some sort of solution is found, even if it's to continue online only. Toys R Us in other countries do not appear to ship internationally so the only alternative will be the second hand market/Ebay and very expensive international shipping.
This also leaves the potential situation that the Journey Girls revisit the UK in a future version of the dolls, but with no one in the UK able to buy them. I really hope Toys R U are not that cruel!
