Toys R Us Made $460M. So Why Did It Die?

Everyone blames Amazon. Amazon and Walmart did hurt Toys R Us, and it still sold $11.5 billion of toys in the year before it filed for bankruptcy (fiscal 2016). So why did it shut every U.S. store? The company's own filings show where the money went: to the debt from the 2005 buyout. And, on the CEO's account, one news report set off a supplier panic. Chapters: 00:00 Why did Toys R Us really die? 00:26 One man, one buyout 01:28 Was it Amazon? 02:23 The bill nobody talked about 04:34 Was debt the cause? 05:08 One news story 06:48 The end 07:35 The aftermath and the comeback 08:32 Three lessons Sources: Toys R Us, Inc. 10-K, fiscal 2016 (year ended Jan 28, 2017): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... Toys R Us, Inc. 10-K, fiscal 2005: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... Toys R Us, Inc. 10-K, fiscal 2004: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... Merger announcement, Mar 17 2005 (8-K Ex. 99.1): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... 8-K, Sep 20 2017 (Chapter 11 filed Sep 18 2017): https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... 8-K and release, Mar 15 2018: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... and https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/da... Retail Dive, Sep 19 2017: https://www.retaildive.com/news/toys-... Sands Anderson, first-day hearing report, Sep 19 2017: https://www.sandsanderson.com/insight... Retail Dive, Jun 26 2018: https://www.retaildive.com/news/insid... CFO.com, Jul 9 2018: https://www.cfo.com/news/pe-firms-rol... Marketplace, Mar 15 2018: http://www.marketplace.org//story/201... Fortune, Mar 9 2018: https://www.fortune.com/2018/03/09/to... CBS News, Nov 21 2018: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/20-milli... AP via NBC News, Mar 2 2006: https://www.nbcnews.com/id/11641703 ; Jun 12 2009: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/wbna... Out-Law, May 26 2004: https://www.pinsentmasons.com/out-law... Amazon.com and Toysrus.com alliance announcement, Aug 11 2000 (repost): https://www.writerswrite.com/amazon-t... NBC News, Mar 22 2018 (Charles Lazarus): https://www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna... Fortune, Mar 22 2018 (Charles Lazarus): https://fortune.com/2018/03/22/charle... Fox Business, Sep 17 2026: https://www.foxbusiness.com/retail/to... MediaPost, Sep 21 2026: https://www.mediapost.com/publication... Notes: $457M is fiscal 2016 interest expense (an accounting figure; cash interest paid was $385M per the 10-K cash-flow statement). $460M is worldwide GAAP operating earnings (414 domestic + 323 international - 277 corporate); adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) was $792M. "$3M on paper" and "fourteen months" are our arithmetic. The 40% vendor figure is the CEO's account at the first-day hearing, as reported. Job counts are as reported. Opinions are labelled "In my view". Not investment advice. Footage & image credits (Wikimedia Commons CC BY / CC BY-SA / PD contributors, no endorsement implied): full list in the pinned comment. Also: "Toys r us closing.jpg" by 3steph14, CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... ; "Shoppers Looks For Gifts In Last-Minute Christmas Rush.webm" by Lakeland PBS, CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/..., https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Fi... (generic shoppers, not Toys R Us). Document excerpts: Toys R Us, Inc. SEC filings (10-K fiscal 2016 and 2005, releases of Mar 17 2005 and Mar 15 2018), re-typeset, highlight added. Toys R Us, Geoffrey, Amazon, Walmart, Target, KKR, Bain Capital and Vornado names are trademarks of their owners, used for commentary. Shopping-mall videos are generic file footage, not Toys R Us. Disclosure: narration uses an AI-generated voice (altered/synthetic content). Cards, captions and music are original. Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/CardsHappyF...