Toys R Us exclusives VS Shop@Home excl. VS "Hard to fin

[Legoist]

Often I hear that the Toys R Us chain has some "exclusives". But what kind of "exclusives" sets are these?

Are they sets which are available on sale only at Toys R Us meaning that they are NOT available from S@H? Or are they always also available from S@H, and they are exclusive to TRU only in the sense that no other retail shop will sell them?

Do they have anything to do with sets marked as "Hard to find" in S@H? This is something else I don't understand... In S@H there are many sets "Hard to find". Some of them however (the small ones like the Police Car and the Doctor's Car) can be seen anywhere, every shop has them. Others (Cafe' Corner, marked as "Hard to find" and not "Exclusive") I've never seen in retail shops.

Anyone wants to spend a couple of minutes to clarify this to me? Thanks!

[architect]

Hard to Find items are often the same sets which are exclusives to one retailer (TRU, Target, etc). LEGO Exclusives are supposed to be sets, gear, and accessories that you can only purchase on Lego Shop at Home or in Lego Brand Stores. After time, some sets like the UCS Millenium Falcon are sold at regular retail and lose this "Exclusive" status.

Ben

[Count Blacktron]

Often the price on S@H is lower thatn TRU, but the shipping cost often makes up for the gap.

[Legoist]

Hard to Find items are often the same sets which are exclusives to one retailer (TRU, Target, etc). LEGO Exclusives are supposed to be sets, gear, and accessories that you can only purchase on Lego Shop at Home or in Lego Brand Stores. After time, some sets like the UCS Millenium Falcon are sold at regular retail and lose this "Exclusive" status.

Ben

Thanks. It's a pity that there are so few LEGO stores in EU, only 3 in UK and 4 in Germany. It's hard to understand why LEGO opens brand stores in Burlington or San Mateo which are so small town, and nothing in Paris or Rome...

[davee123]

Thanks. It's a pity that there are so few LEGO stores in EU, only 3 in UK and 4 in Germany. It's hard to understand why LEGO opens brand stores in Burlington or San Mateo which are so small town, and nothing in Paris or Rome...

I'm not sure why other larger metropolises are left out, but I know here in the States, it's partly thanks to brand building, and partly to satisfy mall "requirements".

The brand building is pretty easy. They're trying to get the Lego brand out there, and there's a risk (here in the US) that retailers like Walmart and Target won't sell the full lineup of LEGO, or sell any LEGO at all. I believe it was in 2008 when Walmart Canada stopped selling LEGO all together because LEGO couldn't lower the price point sufficiently to satisfy Walmart-- heaven forbid that it happens anywhere else, but the LEGO retail stores can help guarantee that the brand is still out there.

I happen to live in the town neighboring Burlington, MA, which yes, is a smallish town compared to major cities. But if you look at the general composition of cities in the US, the demographics for those who buy LEGO is that they live about 10-20 minutes away from the major cities. The suburbs are generally the middle to upper class areas where LEGO purchasing is prevalent, unlike the cities proper, where there isn't as much LEGO buying per capita. Not to mention that retail space in cities is typically more expensive.

Otherwise, there are some interesting requirements that the malls seem to place on retail stores that want to get a slot. According to what we heard from store employees, Simon Malls (which runs a large swath of malls here in our area, and I think nationwide) insisted that LEGO have at least 2 stores in the greater Boston area. LEGO only wanted 1 (in Burlington-- which has reportedly been the top performing store in the US), but Simon refused to grant them a mall slot without LEGO opening a second or third in the area.

My guess is that's common around the country, and explains why you get major metropolises with a few LEGO stores scattered around them, rather than just a single LEGO store serving a major area.

In the EU, I expect the retail market is vastly different-- I'm not sure if the cities follow the same urban/suburban design as closely (I know from my limited visits it seemed more interspersed with rural areas). Also, I'm not sure how much the corporate machine is organizing things like malls and other retail stores. I get the impression that the US is a little more "manufactured" in terms of its demographics, zoning, etc. So Europe's a different beast-- with (I expect) a lot more individuality in each country and city, making it a little trickier to systematically start placing a retail chain.

DaveE

[Duckingham]

there's a risk (here in the US) that retailers like Walmart and Target won't sell the full lineup of LEGO, or sell any LEGO at all. I believe it was in 2008 when Walmart Canada stopped selling LEGO all together because LEGO couldn't lower the price point sufficiently to satisfy Walmart-- heaven forbid that it happens anywhere else, but the LEGO retail stores can help guarantee that the brand is still out there.

My Wal-Mart's (Greenville, SC) LEGO offerings are pretty sad compared to, say, Target and TRU. If I'm looking to buy locally, I tend to go to Target first. But what you've said their about Wal-Mart is pretty telling. On the one hand it speaks to Wal-Mart's pushiness, and also to LEGO's integrity not to cave in. Sure, I'd rather pay less for LEGO than I do, but not at the expense of LEGO compromising its brand quality ... if I was willing to settle for less I'd go buy Mega Bloks. But I don't.

I happen to live in the town neighboring Burlington, MA, which yes, is a smallish town compared to major cities. But if you look at the general composition of cities in the US, the demographics for those who buy LEGO is that they live about 10-20 minutes away from the major cities. The suburbs are generally the middle to upper class areas where LEGO purchasing is prevalent, unlike the cities proper, where there isn't as much LEGO buying per capita. Not to mention that retail space in cities is typically more expensive.

I'm about 2 hours away from the Lawrenceville, GA LEGO store -- a trek that we make a couple times a year.

[architect]

Thanks. It's a pity that there are so few LEGO stores in EU, only 3 in UK and 4 in Germany. It's hard to understand why LEGO opens brand stores in Burlington or San Mateo which are so small town, and nothing in Paris or Rome...

Keep in mind that there a different marketing and retail teams for the various European countries. LEGO has been set up this way since the 1950's. What worked well then is not always ideal now. Stores are likely in the UK, Germany and US because those departments actively sought to have them and because theme parks are located in those countries. Contacting the TLG offices of your country would be the best way to pass along your feedback of wanting a retail store.

I agree that store placement seems somewhat illogical to me. Many large metropolitan areas of the US are not represented but others (ie: Chicago) have multiple stores. TLG is likely happy with the prices and services of certain mall management companies and would prefer to use them for new stores when possible.

Ben