Bus-110 Chapter 7

1. Toys “R” Us SWOT. a. Strengths: 1,500 superstores not including the 200+ stores that it holds under the brand Babies R Us. Successful collaboration with Amazon.com, diversified portfolio of products, and advanced logical systems. b. Weaknesses: Dependent on seasonal sales, Main stronghold is the brand itself (has lost top spot to Wal-Mart). c. Opportunities: There are opportunities for joint ventures and strategic alliances. Toys R Us works closely with Amazon.com which plays to the strength of both companies and provides opportunities. Toys R Us is a good neighbor; it has donated to Katrina victims and also national charities. This will help to sustain its brand with key consumers. d. Threats: Strong competitive rivalry from other major chain stores such as Wal-Mart, Target, and KB Toys(I do believe that KB Toys is no longer a threat). An embargo implemented on countries such as China could also be a threat. 2. Seasonal sales are the main weakness for Toys R Us, however they could be overcome by playing to their strengths of the brand Babies R Us. Babies aren’t seasonal and can help strengthen the Toys R Us issue of seasonal sales. 3. Opportunities and Threats e. Opportunities: While most of the toys are available at any retail store, I believe there is opportunity in collaborating with toy companies about a specific line of toys available only at Toys R Us which would allow the company an opportunity to regain their number one spot, however, the venture would have to be beneficial to Toys R Us and the toy company. f. Threats: I believe other possible threats could be the way kids are brought up in this generation. At five, they can manipulate a computer just as well as most adults, they have cell phones and laptops before they are ten; in my opinion, I see this as a threat to the Toys R Us company because the children don’t seem interested in toys for as long as they were in the past which could in turn