Toys R Us Is Closing All Of Its US And UK Stores

Very sad. Hope everyone finds new jobs.

The Times They Are A-Changin'

And I don't think I like it.

See you, Toys "R" Us. You refused to change, and so the times forced you to choose. And choose, you did.

That’s detestating for all those people who are now looking for a new job. I really feel for them.

Toysrus have expanded alot in Norway the last years.

Well that sucks. 36,000 jobs are about to disappear, hope those folks land somewhere safe.

Prepare for the "going out of business" deals.

That’s sad

That's sad news. I think they only had 1 branch in Ireland, I think it was in Limerick. You never heard anybody talking about them. I much prefer stores like that or Smyths than buying from a catalogue shop like Argos or rip-off shops like Gamestop(that's a company I wouldn't mind see die).

Every time I hear of Toys R Us, I think of this video. It had me in stitches back in the day.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxY8yQRJW08

"Geoffrey the Giraffe has never let my @$$ down!"

Gosh...

Never been a fan though this is truly sad for the kids who grew up shopping at their local stores.

It's still hanging around here in Australia, however, they don't really carry video games anymore, mostly toys and baby stuff.

I remember going there as a kid to play in Pokemon TCG tournaments.

Was definitely a big part of my childhood. Always loved going there. And even though they were typically more expensive than other stores, I would still take my kids in there because the excitement and joy on their faces made up for paying a bit extra. Hopefully the workers land on their feet

They have also still stores in Switzerland. Nothing about they are closing yet.

R.I.P. TRU...

You will be missed.

I never really went to Toys R Us as a kid, as we didn't have one near us, but it's very sad to see all these people losing their jobs. Hopefully they can find new ones soon.

Worked there in 2011..the writing has been on the wall for some time now. This will significantly impact vendors...lots of niche toy and early learning/construction toys were sold there..not to mention things like bikes and powerwheels...truly the end of an era

Damn, I remember my parents taking my brothers and I there when we were really young and getting videogames. Most of the Nintendo 64 games we got were from there. In fact, I remember being there with my mom one time when I was around 4 years old and getting Pokemon Puzzle League. It wasn't my favorite game but still good fun and it's one of the few 64 games I remember receiving and opening.

I also remember being there with my parents and two older brothers just a couple months after the launch of the GameCube. Our neighbor got a GameCube for Christmas and we pleaded our parents for one, so after a couple months of begging they took us out. We got some Universal Studios game called Theme Parks Adventure (it was pretty bad) and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Funny enough, our parents didn't let us get Melee in the store because it was rated "T" and my oldest brother was only around 10 at that time. We tried to convince our parents it was a typo and they eventually let us get it. I'm sure they didn't believe us but just caved in since they knew it was just a Nintendo game with Mario and Pikachu beating each other up. We had the N64 version already so I guess that helped. Sucks we got that Universal game though, we could have gotten Luigi's Mansion, Pikmin, or Wave Race in its place.

My mom took us there a little after Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire came out and bought two copies of Ruby and one copy of Sapphire for me and my two brothers. I was overjoyed as it was my first Pokemon game that I owned. I watched my brother play through Red, Blue, Gold, and Silver all the time in the car and they even let me use their Yellow and Crystal versions once thy beat them since they were essentially duplicate games. However, Ruby version was the first game that was completely mine. I loved every minute of playing that game. The third generation Pokemon games still hold the place as my favorite games of all time, Emerald being the best.

I really didn't go into Toys R Us much after that. I remember getting some inflatable disk and the SpongeBob movie. But the last purchase I made there was when Mario Kart 8 came out. Me, my friends, and brother all went to pick up the game after our day at high school. None of us pre-ordered the game and Best Buy and GameStop ended up being completely sold out. Devastated, we tried Toys R Us as a last resort. Little did we know it was a gaming gold mine. They had multiple stacks of Mario Kart 8 just sitting on the counter. We all picked up a copy and I got my only Pro Controller there.

Overall, some of the best memories I have of buying videogames are from Toys R Us. I know it sounds stupid, but getting games, especially when I was little, was an exciting moment. It's sad to see a store that creates so many childhood memories go. You shall be missed Toys R Us!

EDIT: I didn't realize how long this comment was until I posted it. Procrastination really got the best of me! If anyone read all of this, then props to you!

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Ya it was in Limerick and they made a big deal over it here only to close down 6 months later. I think this happened last year.

F this world in its current state.

Some of the USA stores might stay open, according to CNBC...
"The retailer is looking for ways to keep the brand alive. In one plan, the company would sell the stronger Toys R Us Canadian business, along with roughly 200 of its most profitable U.S. stores, to a new buyer. The new business would then be run out of Canada."
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/14/toys-r-us-is-exploring-a-plan-that-could-keep-200-stores-open-even-after-liquidation.html

It's a shame...

I only went there about 2 or 3 times a year, mostly for buy 1 get 1 half off Pokémon card sales, but it is weird they won't be around.

But you get used to it I guess. I spent most of my childhood shopping in Korvettes, and Woolworths, then I spent way too much money in Comp USA and Computer City on 3Dfx graphics cards, and a lot on Creative sound cards and US Robotics modems in Circuit City. I also used to shop at KB Toys, the other big toy store chain that Bain Capital also put out of business.

http://www.therockfather.com/news-and-reviews/toy-and-games/item/5499-tru-kbconnection

Sucks for the 33,000 people out of work, and the ripple effect in strip malls where these stores may sit empty for awhile, but TRU is just one more banqruptcy in a long line of bankruptcies. Sears and Kmart may be next, I've purchased way more video games at Kmart than I ever did at TRU. A few years back Kmart was seriously promoting games. Only lasted a year or 2 but I saved a ton on games.

It's sad, but it will pass. If you haven't been in a Game stop lately, they have almost as much space devoted to toys as video games these days. I think some other retailer will step up their toy section to try and take advantage of the situation, Target, Walmart, somebody. The world needs toys.

This news confirms something... physical game releases are going to (largely) disappear. With retail evaporating, game companies will be able to cut out the middleman and end production costs associated with hard copies of games.

Physical releases will stick around for collectors much like vinyl. But like vinyl, they'll largely be for enthusiasts.

I went there a lot while my kids were younger but since they are older now they do not play with toys so I quit going there other than the occasional Christmas present for my nieces or nephews. Sorry to see them go.

Pixar is going to make movie about this in Toy Story 4.

I'll always have fond memories of Toys R Us. Haven't shopped there in a long time but it was a huge part of my childhood in the 80s and even into my early teens in the late 90s. Worst part of this is all those jobs lost, hopefully the people effected will find something quickly.

@MikeW That was yesterday's CNBC article, this one is from this morning, it seems less hopeful of that 200 store sale to the Canadian TRU.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/03/15/toys-r-us-is-closing-all-of-its-us-stores-heres-where-they-are.html

@GammaPhonic
I was gonna Google that then decided against it 🙂

Just was there yesterday and have been a frequent for over 40 years for my video game needs. Always got good discounts and sales and even bargain bin scores!! They also carried a lot of video games and accessories that others like Gamestop didn’t. I scored 2 Retron systems there a year ago. Bought my first Atari 2600 game there when i was 14. In fact bought most of my systems there. I could go on and on as there’s countless memories shopping there. It’s gonna be a sad day when the last store closes. 36 thousand jobs is a lot to lose. Lastly, Gamestop and maybe Best Buy too, must be salivating!

@rjejr Maybe MGA Entertainment will step in. According to the Washington Post (owned by Jeff Bezos lol):
"A group of toymakers led by Isaac Larian, chief executive of MGA Entertainment, the giant behind brands such as L.O.L. Surprise!, Little Tikes and Bratz, on Wednesday submitted a bid to buy Toys R Us’s Canadian arm, which includes 82 stores, according to Larian. He added that he is also looking into buying as many as 400 U.S. stores, which he would seek to operate under the Toys R Us name."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/03/14/toys-r-us-to-close-all-800-of-its-u-s-stores/?utm_term=.04861f4178e9

I'm seeing a lot of people remininse their old TRU memories as a child, or heck, even as an adult, but I've never had an "amazing expierience" at TRU. Maybe I rarely went during their "glory days", or heck never went at all, but TRU was never something I was amazed by. My local store was really dirty all the time, and the prices were always significantly marked up compared to other places, if that never bothered you all as kids, that's perfectly alright, but as a kid and having barely any money, I would rather spend my money in a place where I could have the best chance at getting a good deal.

I still feel bad for all those workers, and I hope they'll all be able to get new jobs soon.

I will miss toy r us
Just another place closing down in the uk
There will be no shops left this rate
And even some of the online shops are closing down as well

Worked there for a while a couple years back, sad its goin.

"I don't want to grow up, cause if I did" I'd have to watch Toys R Us die.

That'll teach them to not honor their sale prices.

@Equinox

Good idea.

Make all retail strictly national. UK businesses stay in Britland, US businesses stay in Merica.

Good riddance. If I didn't had a bad history with them then maybe I would care but to continuously make mistakes even after feedbacks were given to them on fixing their act time and time again means they refuse to change. A company that doesn't know how to improve themselves will get nowhere and this is the result.

I took the kids in earlier this week after breaking the news that TRU might be closing down. We went crazy and bought too many toys. Also got some good deals like Yo-Kai 3DS for $10. I hope that someone buys the stores and keeps them going. Amazon will be the death of us all and you cheapskate users will be sad when you realize what you have done in your youthful ignorance.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE

That guy is mentally unhinged.

Wait WHAT? Toys r us? Here I thought this was one of the healthiest stores over there! Well shoot.

@Hikingguy Race to the bottom. TRU can sell itself as a Humble Bundle to the highest bidder. Which will be about 10% of what they are asking now to save themselves. These guys, HQ and the capital guys, will be all gone. Right now it still feels like they are waiting for someone to save their jobs and capital investment, but the only thing that will be saved, if anything, is the name.

@MikeW Never heard of MGA, my brain keeps reading it as MAGA 😛 but I know Bratz and Little Tykes, so that does seem like an option.

Cases like these I always wonder when someone will step in and pick up the remains off the floor. Why should anybody pay now to buy a real company when you can wait a few weeks or months and pay pennies on the dollar later?

TRU seems like a name worth buying, and you would get, I'm assuming, their credit card holder names, and rewards cards holders, so you have a marketable database. If Circuit City can come back after all these years I'm sure someone could manage a TRU website and maybe a few dozen stores in select giant malls around the US.

http://www.richmond.com/business/local/circuit-city-brand-returning-website-to-relaunch-next-month-with/article_51f10820-afb6-5a3c-bfe2-a813f93d7c87.html

Story isn't over yet, even though it feels like the current TRU is.

@JohnBlackstar I've made an effort to support local businesses if I can help it. I bought a mirrorless IL camera recently and patronize the establishment I bought it from regularly. (It actually seems to be doing a pretty good business, which surprised me.)

Same goes for physical games; I shop nearby. However, some things I just can't get locally. I bought a guitar multi-effects processor that I surprisingly couldn't get from anywhere but Amazon.

Anyway, I don't have as much fond memories for TRU as I did Child World. (I'm dating myself here.) They went out of business back in the early 1990's.

Goodbye!

As far as I'm concerned, the Toys R' Us I knew was wiped out long ago by management restructuring. Classic Toys R' Us had one of the simplest, yet most effective purchasing methods: tickets signifying stock of each item. Take ticket to register, pay for it, trade ticket for game at game storage counter. Combines security, quick availability check for store staff or customers' perusal, and proper stock tallying, all in one. Why they got rid of the ticket system, I will never know. I suppose chalk it up to poor management.

The real tragedy here is over 30,000 jobs lost. Not all of those people are going to have a safety net to catch them. Those people will suffer. There is no real safety net for most people in the United States anymore, and there hasn't been for years. Just pure greed and cruelty for tax evading big business interests to steer and bribe the government towards falling into a state where it does not necessarily account for people who get shafted when a bigwig loses at the game of Monopoly. Too bad most people keep picking representatives who are bought out that go along with this, but more people are finally realizing the public can't win unless you get corporate money out of election campaigns. That will have to be the first step to ensure when big job losses like this happen, as few people suffer as possible, preferably no one.

@JohnBlackstar either change your business practices to fit in with the times or get oblitirated by the competition. Guess which one they chose, old timer?

@g_m

If you think that a company like Toys R Us can get "with the times" by competing against Amazon who has money from the government along with a business model that takes huge losses until they eliminate all of their competition and then raises those prices then you don't understand what is happening. Walmart is barely keeping up. There is a reason that Nintendo didn't do business with Amazon for a long time and they still try to keep the majority of their inventory away from them.

A real shame. I still visit my local branch on a monthly basis (though apparently not for much longer). I feel for the employees there, as they've always been friendly and helpful to me.

I wonder if my local toys r is has any special "going out of business" deals? What? I gotta get those toys r us exclusive amiibo on the cheap somehow

Make sure to pick up the Animal Crossing 3-pack for $35. Just joking!

Their Amiibo prices are definitely hard to swallow, but they are one of the few brick and mortar stores where I can still find them. Most of my local stores have eliminated their Amiibo areas entirely. My kids used to like using the kiosk for them.

I have 5 kids. I hate Toys R Us. It's the biggest collection of overpriced plastic and except for Black Friday, was rarely the place to find a good deal. Any parent wanting to avoid screaming and crying children would avoid Toys R Us at all cost. It's easier to deal with Walmart and Target — and that's really what happened. Parents opt to buy toys at other stores — Toys R Us was a jack of all trades, master-of-none. My question is .... what about the Toys R Us / Babies R Us combo stores? Did Babies R Us go out of business?

Incredibly depressing overall. I haven't had a reason to go there in ages, but it's pretty sad. It also significantly impacts Nintendo as they've been a top tear distributor/retailer for them for a long time, including console launches and special edition Amiibos.

@rjejr Woolworths!! I got half my NES collection at Woolworths....that was such a great store in the day. It was devastating when they closed as well. Though I always take it as a consolation prize that, in fact, Foot Locker is actually part of Woolworths, so the company lives on in some small way.

Also, +1 on Computer City and CompuUSA.....I miss those stores.

I was one of the early Amazon customers and loved Amazon overall, but the more everything is consolidated, the less I feel good about it. OTOH when Walmart is the only competition, Amazon is still the underdog, somehow.

Then I see things like I saw today, Amazon delivery truck going down the highway with flashers on and envelopes/boxes piled up half way up the windshield on the dash..... everything about this is wrong. We're turning the whole world into a giant third world country. The promise was the third world would keep getting better until everyone was first world. The reality is we're all sinking to third world. 87 Pinto's delivering WalAzon packages for $.95 a day coming to a Malibu street near you!

Maybe we can borrow "safety nets" from Hon Hai. They were, after all, Apples idea to begin with....

This is terrible, I can't believe their will be no more dedicated toy stores anymore.

I have so many memories getting SNES and Gameboy games at my local Toys R Us when I was a kid.

@NEStalgia "We're turning the whole world into a giant third world country. The promise was the third world would keep getting better until everyone was first world. The reality is we're all sinking to third world."

During the 80's and 90's my best friend was a personal trainer at the NY Health and Racket Club and a couple of other high end clientele gyms. One of his clients for a couple of those years was David Rockefeller, when he was old enough to still be cognizant yet so old he didn't care about letting the truth be heard. He talked all the time about making the whole world a 3rd world country, somehow it was good for everybody to be indentured to the rulers b/c only they knew what was best. It was all crazy Bilderburgh group and Trilateral Commision inside stuff. Made me a believer in the Illuminati, the real ones, not pop culture, and realize we were all screwed. 😳

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Rockefeller

The fact that Romneys Bain Capital did the exact same thing to KB Toys is lost on people, all they want to blame is Amazon, it's like nobody has read Barbarians at the Gate.

Hope they won't close the Toys R Us stores in Sweden, they actually have good discounts sometimes.

@rjejr I wonder if Bain specifically hates toys...and joy. That anecdote you shared was interesting, though that's pretty clear from the actions of many. Funny how those who say it would be good for everyone are the ones who already have tons of money.

@NEStalgia @rjejr

Nailed it! I love it when the real world collides with our cultivated bubble here on a Nintendo website comment thread.

@rjejr
"The fact that Romneys Bain Capital did the exact same thing to KB Toys is lost on people, all they want to blame is Amazon"

Was about to post these exact words.

So sad, and so brutal to see 33 thousand American jobs lost, and meanwhile those involved in the private equity firms (who buy these companies intending to gut and destroy them) continue to fly around in private jets in the lap of luxury..

@Ogre Yeah, it's just easier for people to blame Amazon than try to distinguish between LBOs and private equity firms. I try to follow financial news and even I find it daunting. The jobs lost is certainly the worst part to me. Kids don't even need TRU, parents just hand them an iPad and an iTunes card, taking the kids to TRU is work. 😛

@SpeedRunRocks That's @NEStalgia and I, keeping it real. 😆

@sdelfin "if Bain specifically hates toys...and joy."

I actually hadn't considered that, but now that you mention it, there may be something to it, sadly.

Very sad for all the workers who did nothing wrong. But this is a long time coming. Toys R Us has been a crazy expensive and over priced store for years. The examples I will never forget are Pokemon cards and Lego. A pack of Pokemon Cards are Target or Meijer was 3.99, but it was 4.35 at the local Toys R Us for the exact same pack. A 19.99 Lego set and Target or Meijer might be as much as 23-24 dollars at Toys R Us. Now with Amazon providing even cheaper options still, there was little hope of Toys R Us staying around.

I wonder which will be next, Game Stop or Best Buy. Both are struggling as well.

I put two and half years of work at a Toys R Us. (2005-2008) and I knew then that the company was in trouble when the main focus shifted to BPP’s, Batteries, and Instant Credits as these were essentially full profit. The excuse is that “toys are not profitable enough for a sustainable business.”

Thanks for the memories.

Great shop as a child, terrible as an adult.

First they said it was US only and now they closing down in UK, Portugal, Spain and France too. Guess won't be long the rest will close shop too.

@Blizzia It has nothing to do with changing. The company who bought them had saddled them with terrible debt. They would have been fine if it weren't for the owners debt.

@Joe-b Choices were made. So it has everything to do with changing. But feel free to have your own opinion

@rjejr That's really in line with numerous other things I've heard before but it's always reaffirming to hear such things again from reliable sources. Something I've always been aware of, but seeing very real and direct reminders now and again at least prevents one from thinking they're crazy.

@sdelfin Not so much specifically hating joy, but I do think it has a significant amount to do with targeting those specific institutions as well. Sure they (equity firms) exist to leech money by buying companies and bleeding them out (similar to what Vivendi wants to do with Ubisoft, and already did to Activision, FWIW. Love or hate Activision's business practices, current management resurrected that company from nothing after Vivendi bled them out and left them for dead.) In the case of Bain, Berkshire, etc, etc. I do think it's targeted. TRU and KB represented an avenue for kids to be exposed to a large choice. Targeting those two helps shape society and future generations in the mold they will it to be by funneling that industry, that influences children's development and thinking, and directing all that choice to the fewer options under the control of their own peers. It will funnel toy sales to WalAzon...controlled by their "group" of peers, thus selecting what options will be available for the masses. It will also eliminate from the market smaller toy manufacturers producing alternate toys that don't guide children as they wish them guided.

On the surface, they're just gutting companies for money.

A bit deeper they're shaping the economy, the avenues of retail, the options available on the market to a more cultivated, landscaped tea garden of their own design, by subtly removing anything that doesn't align their vision. Funneling toys/early learning to match their vision and thought process for children, along with controlling education, helps them build the perfectly pliant population 15-20 years from now that's been trained to think the ways they wish them to think.

MUCH deeper, it's becoming ever more apparent to me as I noted in another article, we are 100% owned by China at this point. These patterns, these processes, are the methodologies China has operated under for a very long time. Once it becomes clear that everything we do, is the same as everything China would do, and once you start looking at just what purchases abroad China has made over the last few decades, you start to see a very well hidden hand behind a lot of things. Any suspicions of that crystallize substantially when you read Xi's address earlier this year (followed by his not-quite-emperor-for-life maneuvering.) The New Silk Road has them now moving from shadowy hidden hand manipulation to overt buyouts of smaller countries in Asia and Europe guised only thinly as "trade cooperation." The relationship with the US and Western Europe is still too delicate (they depend on the money) to overtly maneuver, but when I see the kind of "landscaping" companies like Bain are engaged in, I tend to get very curious just how much money and decision making power China, or a Chinese front may have within said firm. Of course, we'll never know.

Not that the Rockefellers were any better. At the end of the day it's just different groups trying to have absolute control over all happenings on earth so see their own vision shape the world.

What's more sad (and really the root cause of the success of any of the above) is that here on a Nintendo related forum an article about Toys R Us closing turned into a discussion of the greater maneuverings within the social order, larger agendas beneath the surface, and how this relates much more to many other things than the topic alone indicates.

But in the general public, news sites, even financial sites...such discussion doesn't occur. People look surface deep and see only the one object placed in front of them. Even "our betters" in the trading industry can't connect dots. How is it a bunch of gamers understand reality more than the supposedly intellectuals? And do we need to wonder if attempts to go after video games for "violence" relates?

@rjejr I think we need to start Philosophy Friday.

@NEStalgia "but seeing very real and direct reminders"

Like iHeartRadio aka Clear Channel also declaring bankruptcy yesterday?

http://deadline.com/2018/03/iheart-media-files-for-chapter-11-bankruptcy-1202338348/

Owned by - you'll never guess - Bain Capital. OK, you may have guessed that.

Run by Bob Pittman. He also had a part in running AOL. Maybe it's him?

Philosophy Friday, what are we going to do the other 6 days?

@rjejr In the case if iheart radio, it may not be one of the Bain manipulative targets, but just a coincidence. It's in a crowded market and isn't really the most identifiable service, or most identifiable free service and has little money making backend other than advertising (which kind of depends on being the most identifiable service.) That one may be a legit problem....though I do suspect it was the debt generation that did them in....no agenda on that one though. It doesn't reshape that industry at all, it was a minor player.

Isn't AOL owned (for some completely unintelligible reason) by Verizon? Not that AOL was worth much before, but if you want your company to die, a sure fire way to do it is to let Ma Bell run it. (Sure, Verizon's not AT&T, but AT&T isn't AT&T either, it's SBC/Bell South, and Verizon is Bell Atlantic....so AT&T and Verizon are both the halves of Ma Bell. Some good deregulation did...)

The other 6 days we can gripe about DLC and cardboard. Friday is for Philosophy.

@NEStalgia DLC and cardboard

OK, I'll gripe about the price of DLC, you gripe about the price of cardboard. Or we can both join the comments section on the Nindies article and just gripe about everybody else griping. Some days I'm so happy just not be involved.

AOL may be owned by Verizon. My parnets have Verizon FIOS and she uses AOL as a front end to get her email. I had no idea why, she said that's what the Verizon rep on the phone told her to do. Makes sense now.

iHeartRadio may nto be going down the toilet b/c of Bain, but really, c'mon, who lent Bain $18B in 2008 to buy a radio company? That just makes no sense. $18B, pshaw

@Nincompoop Heh.

Its sad news. This is due to lack of vision in top mangement. I hope that people find other jobs too.

One question:

Are we going to see HUGE clearance discounts online for the US and UK stores? If yes, please share the links.
Thank you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7qQ6_RV4VQ&hd=1

@NEStalgia @Hikingguy @MikeW

Now this would be interesting. Amazon helps put TRU out of business, buys up the bankrupt real estate cheap, changes the stores to "Alexa's Toys*".

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-19/amazon-is-said-to-have-mulled-acquiring-some-toys-r-us-stores

*Alexa's Toys, for those who really don't like Amazon, b/c it would sell a lot of Echos and other Alexa enabled devices besides the toys, and it sounds like a porn store.

@Hikingguy "The deals would have to be pretty good for me to want to drive to a store."

I feel like they need a store to show off all of their interconnected smart home Alexa devices. Besides the basic Echo, there's Dot, Show, and home stuff like speakers, thermostats, video doorbells, security cameras, light bulbs.

https://smile.amazon.com/smart-home/b/ref=nav_shopall_1_ods_ha_echo_ch?ie=UTF8&node=6563140011

The Echo devices seem to be selling well enough but I feel like the connected devices need a showroom for people to see them in action.

That's only 1 small part of the store, the rest could be clothes, toys, books, pharmacy which they seem to be getting into. Basically a Target but half the size.

They don't need hundreds of stores, but dozens like Apple or Microsoft could do ok. They would also double as return centers, save Amazon a little money on shipping. And pickup locations, save a little more money there as well.

@Hikingguy My wife got a Dot from my sister last year. We use it to stream Pandora and ask Alexa every morning what the weather is. And since I disconnected my phone line I also use it to make phone calls for free, it's a nice little speaker phone. I just assume Jeff Bezos is recording my every word so don't say anything that could get me in trouble w/ the law.

I also really like their return policy. I have a UPS store a couple of blocks away, print out the label and drop it off. Though the woman working there started charging $1 for tape if I don't do a good enough job taping the box shut myself, but that's on UPS, not Amazon. But if Amazon issued return credit on the spot people would probably spend it on the spot so it is a win for Amazon that way.

There are 2 TRU about 10 minutes away from me, another 12 minutes, another 15. If 1 of those turned into an Amazon I'd probably stop by occasionally. We don't need all 4 though.

@10-zx How so? He seems fine to me.

@PlywoodStick You, sir, have hit the nail on the head.
#OverturnCitizensUnited