Anybody wants to venture a guess on what's next to close? It's obvious that Mattel is going to go the way of Toy R Us, it will only take a bit longer to get there.
We've been a one trick pony for far too long, and with the general state of retail, I'm pretty sure our days are numbered. New York is just the beginning.
Where has the BOD been??? Just collecting six figure paychecks, watching these jokers and their shenanigans.
BS moves were lousy but what was even worse was that slob SL riding her high horse into every division and doing nothing and i mean NOTHING productive. no acquisitions worth a damn, no high yielding licensed properties. just mean girl politics with her g-- cronies. glad she’s gone.
Def mucho trudt in this chain...from the outside, the 20 year BOD member that ousted the CEO and took his job looks like an opportunist; look at the stock, DID HE DELIVER AT ALL, ON ANYTHING? Looks like he set the co on reverse course as the previous poster states, somehow this seems overlooked on this site...a 20 year BOD member folks, crazy time, huh?...agree the CEO he ousted's decisions could have been right coursed...then the "Ouster" hired a CEO who appears from the results, out her marbles...with a #2 who, who, who knows what, what, what...you.d have been much better off fixing some of the decisions made pre-2015...seems your exiting chairman owns most of this mess and now skips off to his new chairmanship...$$$$$$$$
I don't know if it was Stockton's idea to challenge Nerf or not - but was it such an awful one? A huge segment with no real challengers? Seems strategically sound to want to peel away some of that market share. The problem was jerk Wad laying out a promise to the retailers of how great it was going to be. When it didn't shoot into the stratosphere out of the gate like he told them it would, they bailed.
Stockton's margin targets were ridiculous. But that's a mistake that could be fixed by changing the pricing matrix.
Mega and HIT? Hasbro's killing it with content and the construction category is huge. Why not make some strategic acquisitions.
Yeah, these calls didn't work out but in hindsight at least there was some thought behind the plays that was grounded in the toy business.
I'm not defending the guy. But honestly, anything Stockton did could be easily corrected in a season or 2. Sinclair has set us up for YEARS of course correction. The leadership is gone, Sinclair himself is gone, and now we've got M-Go, RD and the Swedish Tech Chef talking about the WONDER of putting a chip in every Hot Wheels car so we can gather data on how kids play and iterate on the next great thing. Good lord. Give me Stockton any day over this mess.
Stockton also blessed the RE-diculous margins that everyone knew were never achievable. it was a death sentence the day he announced it.
I am wondering what will be next. There’s zero chance that closing NYC will get them close to 650 million savings. Mega, East Aurora, and American Girl could all stand on their own without Mattel, and may have been better off without them. Set them free!
According to my sources the Electronic Arts buyout rumor it just that; but they are awfully close to the company that ‘Mattel’ wants to be...
Stockton was harmless? Ask the folks at MEGA and HIT about that.
Wasn’t it Stockton’s idea to challenge Nerf? How much money was sunk into Boomco anyway? Who let Disney Princess evaporate? Who blessed PLM?
Love him or hate him, either way it's hard to deny that GW is the man.
Thanks for that lengthy diatribe, GW. Your glowing self-endorsement is awe-inspiring!
This is a very thoughtful and accurate summary. The unrecoverable mistake that hit hard was CS and the damage he triggered. Also, never hire hire a legacy employee and that is RD.
And the exact same thing happened in El Segundo. 8 years ago plans for the transition of power from Eckert to Stockton began, and since then all the institutional leadership slowly got pushed to the curb by new folks trying to make power plays. You felt at in EA, and we felt in ES.
Stockton was ineffectual but essentially harmless. Not a good leader but left everyone alone enough so that we could have righted the ship. But CS saw it as an opp to stage a coupe and make the leap from the Board to CEO. He's the real reason for the situation we currently find ourselves in. Then he wouldn't give up the reins until he sunk us lower and lower and didn't have a choice. As a result, anyone that was worth a damn got pushed out as he floundered around and tried to blame those below him. RD gets brought back. SL executes her own coupe on TK. More and more CS puppets start showing up and making bad deals for the company. To try and look good for the Street they brought in all these tech "gurus" who don't know anything about making a physical product. They're amazed that we can't push something out the door in 6 months. They ask why we can't launch something and then iterate on it until we get it right. Because it's physical product and not an app. These are our leaders.
You complain about SL, but we had to deal with her poison before AND after she touched you guys. RD, in a brilliant bit of spin positioned himself as the savior of Barbie - but it's pretty easy to rebound that brand when the lawyers have managed to pull your competition (Bratz) from the shelf.
Yeah, a few middle management guys have managed to climb the ranks while all the chaos has been going on ("Every thought in my head must come out of my mouth" Pantone, Downy Down, J. "The Horror, The Horror" with no Wits), but these aren't visionaries who will bring any turnaround. At best, they're good little soldiers who can't believe their luck and aren't going to rock the boat. Most of the potential change agents got frustrated and bailed. Who can blame them?
The only guy left who knows anything and could potentially get us out of this mess is GW (love him or hate him). Aside from his brief stint on the tech side, I haven't seen him fail. If we're looking inside the company for someone who knows the industry, knows Mattel, and has fantastic product instincts - he's the guy for the job. Problem is, RD and M-GO know this, so he's likely got a big target on his back.
We're all in the same boat guys. Just because you work in a different city doesn't mean you're not part of Mattel. I wish you'd realize that and cut out the "EA vs. ES" crap. It's misplaced. The leadership WANTS us to bicker amongst ourselves so we don't focus our ire where it belongs - on them.
Been with FP in EA for 30 years. I can tell you exactly when Mattel "messed-up" FP. In 1993 Mattel bought us but left us alone, and we continued on as "Fisher-Price". Yes, we had some great years even after Mattel purchased us. We had "Fisher-Price" management at all levels who had come up through the FP ranks and knew how to run the company. About 7-8 years ago Mattel began to push out all the seasoned FP management from the top down. KC was our general manager as was a home grown Fisher-Pricer. Next kicked out were the SVPs of Engineering (GJ) retired, Design (TZ) and Marketing (CS) and replaced with Mattel replacements who knew nothing about the FP business. Then came PLM and other all the other Mattel processes that made it nearly impossible to do our job and get a product through the system. I could go on, but again, it was about 8 years ago when Mattel began to mess-up FP!
When did Mattel "mess up" the EA campus, exactly? Because, you know - they've owned you since 1993.
Actually, let me re-phrase that. You've been PART OF MATTEL since 1993. And it's been all downhill since then, huh? Not one good year in the mix? The Neil years? The riding high on Tickle Me Elmo which you got from Tyco? Power Wheels? All just crap in your mind?
I know it's fun to hate on HQ and talk about how wonderful things would be if you weren't part of that - but thank your stars that the company has let you work as a satellite operation. Other acquisitions weren't so lucky.
The only thing Mattel has messed up is Mattel. And we're all part of that mess.
EA is a jewel in the toy industry,unfortunately Mattel has messed the campus up severely. The FP brand is one of the few things worth actual money to a brand marketing company. ES won’t close due to ego, EA wont close due to their reputation. Chapt 11 and total company sale more likely tha n EA closing.
I think they'll start selling off the portfolio before they close EA. I would imagine the FP brand would be acquired vs. shutting down the EA office.
Its not like EA has a "high cost of living" like the justification for closing NYC. scoff
TRU was the final nail...
CH 11 is next.. With EA closing to follow.