Toy Story
Charles Lazarus founded Toys R Us in 1948 . During the 1980s and 1990s , Toys R Us was the undisputed top toy retailer in the U.S . Last week, the company filed for bankruptcy protection . How did this happen? One of the key factors in failure is inertia . Toys R Us, just like many leading companies in other industries, simply failed to see the relentless assault of technology, the transformation from real toys to virtual toys, and online retailers bent upon rendering traditional retailing redundant. On top of these, it would also appear that the leadership suffered from arrogance – we are too big to fail syndrome. Faced with ever-mounting problems , the company took the leveraged buyout route to go private in 2005 . Private equity firms Bain Capital and KKR & Co . lent a huge amount to convert equity into debt. At the time, both Toys R Us and the buyers made tall claims about making the stores a better place to shop and work. Finance 101 sa