That sound? A thousand tiny plastic unicorns crying
A child's dreamland, a parent's nightmare, Toys R Us has closed after attempts to save it failed.
What it means: Toys R Us is going to have to sell its 885 US based stores, or they'll close, putting about 30,000 jobs at risk. All its UK stores will close by the end of April, putting 8,000 people out of work.
Toys R Us joins a lengthening list of high street faves pulling down the shutters in the UK. There are a couple of reasons for it. An increasing means suddenly running a store (which tend to have lots of minimum wage workers) becomes a lot more expensive. Consumers (that's the people who are buying the toys) don't have as much money – their wages aren't rising as fast as – which means they are buying less toys. And a change in the way businesses are taxed – called business rates – will make properties much more expensive to run.
But it's also because people just don't shop in the way they used to. Kids are buying their toys online, or in supermarkets, and the prospect of making a special trip to an out of town superstore just doesn't appeal in the way it used to. Businesses have had to move with the times – it's called – to make sure they're one step ahead of consumer changes, and Toys R Us has failed to keep up.
It’s not just about what you do, it’s where you do it. Workplaces can create and cut jobs, borrow money and interact with the financial market, and buy and sell products from other workplaces, affecting their financial situations. There’s also the question of whether our workplaces should be taking care of us, or whether that’s the government’s job…
