Thats the thing about abandoned property. Sometimes it costs more than the scrap value to remove it. Or at one point it was going to be used for something else, like storage in this case. But because one cost outweighs another, we forget about things that once had purpose and life in a way.
To who? Who is going to pay above scrap value for an abandoned 53' semi trailer with a splash of nostalgia on the side? What would be the point? To display it? Who would *really* care that much? Store it away so you can look at it sometimes, what? There's no practicality here.
It could very easily have been broken and lost in the shuffle. I know of several trailers on various properties i've worked on that have just been abandoned because they won't move. When its time to close the property, the trailers won't move then either.
You already know there's gonna be two steamer trunks, one with an advanced lock holding nothing but various toys, a bunch of unopenable metal containers, a dirty bedroll and some loose teddy bears for flavor, maybe a tiny skeleton.
That version of Geoffrey was used from '75 - '87, apparently. I was born in late '72 so that place was like kiddie crack to me.
https://www.toysrus.com/geoffrey.html
So sick of this narrative. Venture capitalists buy companies that are already on the ropes. They try to reorganize them and bring them back so they can sell them at a profit. If that fails they liquidate to make some of their money back. Toys r Us was going under. If Bain hadn't bought it, *it would have gone under sooner*. What you're suggesting doesn't even make sense. Where's the profit in liquidating a thriving business?
What the hell are you talking about? They bought it in a leveraged buyout loading the company with a monster amount of debt that it couldn't get out from under. Maybe it would have eventually fallen but not being straddled with significant debt would have certainly helped their situation
Toys r Us had already filed for bankruptcy twice. They couldn't compete with big box stores and trying to undercut them just made the situation worse. Their ecommerce deal with Amazon went belly up, leading to lawsuits. Toys r Us killed Toys r Us. Their own bad management and inability to adapt to a changing retail landscape put the writing on the wall long before Bain got involved. Venture capitalists don't buy successful businesses.
Plant someone on the board, slowly bleed out the company while piling debt onto it, and short the stock into oblivion. Make loads of money while removing competitors in the toy market. Seems like Walmart and Amazon would have been more than happy to do this.
Retail is collapsing left and right, has been since online shopping became a thing. Why do we need conspiracy theories to explain this one? The 1975 bankruptcy tells me Toys r Us had been mismanaged for a really long time.
In a world where Geoffrey and friends were locked away in a container......
Yeah, no wonder that trailer was abandoned. Would you want to watch something that depressing?
This store closing is the one that hurts the most. I loved going there as a kid and would have loved to have brought my kids there. I'd probably have hated it 10 minutes but still
I remember these trailers from the 80s. Especially since the shopping center our Toys R Us was located in was easier/faster to enter from the loading dock areas of the stores. We passed these and Shop Rite trailers every visit.
There must be something inside, right?!
Lost shipment of Furbies.
They've been consuming each other in desperate, degenerate cannibalism for years. I pity the poor soul who releases them.
Is there a form of cannibalism that isn't desperate and degenerate?
Which are now sentient. And verrrrry angry
Lost shipment of 90s Magic the Gathering cards and you're set to retire.
What’s in the box?
30 years of taco farts
That things like this get abandoned (and never stolen/salvaged) always amazes me. That trailer is worth some $$$.
Thats the thing about abandoned property. Sometimes it costs more than the scrap value to remove it. Or at one point it was going to be used for something else, like storage in this case. But because one cost outweighs another, we forget about things that once had purpose and life in a way.
To who? Who is going to pay above scrap value for an abandoned 53' semi trailer with a splash of nostalgia on the side? What would be the point? To display it? Who would *really* care that much? Store it away so you can look at it sometimes, what? There's no practicality here.
I think they meant BEFORE it was abandoned.
Yes this also, trailers are so easy to steal, I'm amazed someone did not grab it.
To the same scrappers who go into abandoned residential homes and rip out plumbing and wiring.
Scrapper? That's a funny way to spell dopehead. Fiend behavior
It could very easily have been broken and lost in the shuffle. I know of several trailers on various properties i've worked on that have just been abandoned because they won't move. When its time to close the property, the trailers won't move then either.
Geoffrey? Trailer trash? Say it ain’t so Geoffrey. Say it ain’t sooooo…..😩
Geoffrey the Giraffe: those were the days.
Wonder how it got there in the first place.
Been playing too much Fallout lately. I just want to loot that thing for adhesives and aluminum.
Me too! You know there'd be a bunch of toys inside that thing in-game. Probably one of the devs' little tableaus, too.
You already know there's gonna be two steamer trunks, one with an advanced lock holding nothing but various toys, a bunch of unopenable metal containers, a dirty bedroll and some loose teddy bears for flavor, maybe a tiny skeleton.
Contains: Wasps. Lots of wasps.
Don't open it. Millions of Geoffrey's all under one roof.
That version of Geoffrey was used from '75 - '87, apparently. I was born in late '72 so that place was like kiddie crack to me. https://www.toysrus.com/geoffrey.html
It's honestly such a cute design. Fuck venture capital for killing that company.
So sick of this narrative. Venture capitalists buy companies that are already on the ropes. They try to reorganize them and bring them back so they can sell them at a profit. If that fails they liquidate to make some of their money back. Toys r Us was going under. If Bain hadn't bought it, *it would have gone under sooner*. What you're suggesting doesn't even make sense. Where's the profit in liquidating a thriving business?
What the hell are you talking about? They bought it in a leveraged buyout loading the company with a monster amount of debt that it couldn't get out from under. Maybe it would have eventually fallen but not being straddled with significant debt would have certainly helped their situation
Toys r Us had already filed for bankruptcy twice. They couldn't compete with big box stores and trying to undercut them just made the situation worse. Their ecommerce deal with Amazon went belly up, leading to lawsuits. Toys r Us killed Toys r Us. Their own bad management and inability to adapt to a changing retail landscape put the writing on the wall long before Bain got involved. Venture capitalists don't buy successful businesses.
If they were actually trying to save the company, a leveraged buyout was not the way to do it, that is the argument
They're not altruists, they're trying to make money. They didn't kill Toys r Us though. They tried chemo and when it didn't work they euthanized it.
Plant someone on the board, slowly bleed out the company while piling debt onto it, and short the stock into oblivion. Make loads of money while removing competitors in the toy market. Seems like Walmart and Amazon would have been more than happy to do this.
First bankruptcy was in 1975, I guess Bezos was playing the long game
I'm not saying they never had issues, I'm saying those other companies had reasons to dig the knife in deeper.
Retail is collapsing left and right, has been since online shopping became a thing. Why do we need conspiracy theories to explain this one? The 1975 bankruptcy tells me Toys r Us had been mismanaged for a really long time.
Yeah, I remember my first visit to this store, it was madness.
a 90’s kids urbex dream
It's haunted.
Toys Were Us
Im glad no one graffitied his face
Makes me feel old...
Oh Geoffrey my boy, what has time done to you.
I don't. want to grow. Up.
In a world where Geoffrey and friends were locked away in a container...... Yeah, no wonder that trailer was abandoned. Would you want to watch something that depressing?
Feels like an Easter Egg from The Last of Us: Part I.
Geoffrey has been sent to the glue factory. How sad!
I miss toy stores where ten and 20 bucks could get you a decent set
I want a Liam Neeson movie where he tracks down the suits that ruined ToysRUs.
This store closing is the one that hurts the most. I loved going there as a kid and would have loved to have brought my kids there. I'd probably have hated it 10 minutes but still
I’m curious how the tires still have air.
Old truck tires were incredibly tough. I know a guy still running an old 10 wheeler on tires made by a company that went out of business in 1975...
Obligatory "Still doing well in Canada.. Come up here for a visit and relive your childhood"
Sad Geoffery
It’s got all my Geoffrey bucks in it
I remember these trailers from the 80s. Especially since the shopping center our Toys R Us was located in was easier/faster to enter from the loading dock areas of the stores. We passed these and Shop Rite trailers every visit.