1. Toys “R” Us Aaron James & Amber Alcaraz International Marketing Case Study April 14 th 2008

2. Background Founded by Charles Lazarus (1948) –Sold baby furniture at fathers shop and renamed it children’s First baby furniture and children toy supermarket (1952) Introducing Toys “R” Us (1957) 51 locations (1974) $ 1 billion dollars (1983) –Went over! 1 st international store in Singapore

3. Grand Opening of TRU Japan Tuesday January 6, 1992 In Kashihara, Naraken, Japan President Bush appeared 5,000 people and 2,000 policemen

4. Post TRU Japan Large customer traffic -$15 to $20 million compared to U.S. store bring in about $10 million in sales Helped other local business Run on push system

5. Opportunities Second Largest Toy Market Childhood Spending for children is high Japanese ready to pay high prices for toys Growing rates in toys

6. Bumps along the way Big stores law 1974 3 year battle to open 1 st store Price over quality Changing of local toys Mom and pop store close with community Smaller stores Local Business demand size reduction Individualism vs. Collectivism High Land Prices Import costs Location problems Training challenges Japanese Customs Negative perceptions of warehouse labor

7. Decisions Made Store within a store More Catalogs -Big toy catalogue -Videogame and electronic toys Joint venture with McDonalds

8. How do they stand now? Shoplifting rare Introduced discounts Gives choice to consumers

9. Has Japan as a market changed? -There is a better look at larger stores -Helped Japanese retailers -More choices in toy shopping

10. Current Issues? Large earthquake in 1995 Negative growth in 2003 -Opened new stores that helped increase sales Gradually becoming accepted by community

11. Suggested Actions More research needed -Market analysis Better integration into community

12. Lessons Learned Transition not always easy Doing everything the American way Cooperation with Japanese customs Smaller warehouse Direct communication with toy venders

13. Could this have gone better?