Physical stores that sell Lego - Target, Walmart, [???]

asherkobin

I'm assuming Target and Walmart are the largest sellers of Lego in the USA. Who comes in third and fourth? Kohls?

karrit

The Lego Store.  Kohls, Barnes & Noble, Scheels, Toys r Us inside Macys, some Grocery Chains like Kroger & Meijer.  As far as decent selection I'd have to say Barnes & Noble.  Next one around here would be Scheels.  Our local Kroger is actually King Soopers but most of them maybe have a small set or two with a little more around the Holidays and sometimes the minifigs.  Walgreens stocks some small sets & a handful of minifigures.  Also Joanns & Michaels.

madforLEGO

I think some Best Buys also have LEGO as well. Five Below used to get the CMFs and certain Polybags (not sure if they do now though)

Astrobricks

Costco also typically has some, according to reports on this forum.

Astrobricks

Also, little known fact: it’s JOANN, not Joann’s.

Bumblepants

Astrobricks said:

Also, little known fact: it’s JOANN, not Joann’s.

If you are in the southern United States every store is plural. To quote my late grandmother: "I got this down at the Walmarks!"

jmeninno

lol the people who say "Tarr-Jay"

karrit

Yeah, Costco is great for getting fairly new sets at about 20% off when they actually get stock.  Best time is in the fall up to the Holidays but limited selection although they do get some of the bigger sets.  Some prices get reduced to move the stock as it gets nearer the holidays so my strategy is to grab what I think I want when I see it & then either get price adjustments or rebuy at the lower price & return the original if the timeframe for a price adjustment has passed.  Actually ended up getting better deals on all the Advent Calendars elsewhere last year.  Their prices are higher if you buy online from them but still less than RRP, because they add in a shipping cost to their online prices.

scotty12

I don't know if we've answered the original question yet....but it might be Barnes and Noble, Kohls or possibly Best Buy....as far as in-store or brick and mortar stores.  Online it might be different(Amazon).  I'm having a hard time thinking off hand which stores have a large stock.  But I'm in Iowa...so that almost excludes me from most conversations. Many that have been mentioned...Kroger, Scheels, Costco...are regional or sparse and others only have half a dozen cheap LEGOs on the shelves...like a Dollar General, Joann.

Astrobricks

jmeninno said:

lol the people who say "Tarr-Jay"

Typically said “Tar Zhay“ tongue-in-cheek ;-)

karrit

For Number of sets actually available in store to choose from I think I'd have to go with Barnes & Noble because they pretty much stock everything but I think the top 3 would probably be Walmart, Target & the actual Lego stores followed by Barnes & Noble. But sale prices are few & far between for the Lego Store & Barnes & Noble.

560Heliport

A Barnes & Noble (costs $25/year) gets you 10% off.

asherkobin

karrit said:

The Lego Store.  Kohls, Barnes & Noble, Scheels, Toys r Us inside Macys, some Grocery Chains like Kroger & Meijer.  As far as decent selection I'd have to say Barnes & Noble.  Next one around here would be Scheels.  Our local Kroger is actually King Soopers but most of them maybe have a small set or two with a little more around the Holidays and sometimes the minifigs.  Walgreens stocks some small sets & a handful of minifigures.  Also Joanns & Michaels.

Well thank you. I've never heard of Scheels. I went to their website and they have lots of good stuff. 

PS: I live in Maryland

asherkobin

karrit recomended Scheels which is not in my area. I was very impressed, they carry a lot of the expensive sets which can only mean when discount season arrives.... :)

https://www.scheels.com/c/all/lego

scotty12

 asherkobin said:

karrit recomended Scheels which is not in my area. I was very impressed, they carry a lot of the expensive sets which can only mean when discount season arrives.... :)

https://www.scheels.com/c/all/lego

I can honestly say I've never checked out their website.  I only live 15 miles from a Scheels.  So it's no problem for me to get to one easily.  They've been around me for 30+years in the 2 shopping malls but then in 2013 they combined them to one larger store.  But it's still much smaller than the new stores(no Ferris wheels, bowling alley, aquariums...just a store).  I've never seen a "discount season" at a Scheels.   This last week was the first time I've ever seen a set discounted at a Scheels...and it was 2 sets....a $30 City set down to $25 and Lunar New Years set to $104.  At least the Scheels near me....it's known for discounts..on clothing....it may say "clearance sale" but it's marked down $20 for the same price it's regularly sold at Kohls. 
    I hope there soon begins a 'discount season'.  

Keilup

There are a couple of Game/Toy stores I've seen in malls (can't remember names) that are probably scattered throughout the U.S. that carry a few sets.  From what I've seen prices are never good.  It's probably meant for those impulse parent / grand parent buyers looking for an inexpensive gift / treat for the kid.

Also, H.E.B. in Texas does carry a few.  Selection is small.  They are expanding and new in the DFW area.  I will keep an eye on it when the closes one to me opens this Wednesday to see if it's actually worth watching.

Then there is Lego Discovery Center.  I guess most people think of them as Lego stores, but LDCs are something completely separate.

Sethro3

My local Scheel's has a ridiculously large selection of LEGO sets. But I've never really seen any on discount there, even after holiday season as one would expect. YMMV.

Barnes has a pretty decent selection anymore. But Target clearly is up there also. Wal-mart surprisingly anymore is pretty limited. There is only one aisle, and only one side of the aisle. Target near me is 1.5 aisles (so 3 sides covered). Scheels is one long aisle, but also it is about the height of two aisles since it is stacked up. I'll have to grab a picture sometime. And CMF galore at Scheel's.

scotty12

^ Yeah...never seen a sale at Scheels.  Except.....about 6 weeks ago they put ALL of the last three series of minifigures on clearance for $3.49.  Currently they don't have any minifigures or polybags. 

560Heliport

I too have never seen a sale at Scheels, sometimes a few sets on clearance. The Marvel Eternals sets aren't moving even at roughly 30-40% off- I think the $90 #76156 was $57.99.
The Eden Prairie store sometimes sells the display models once they're retired, 10% off, no box, maybe no instructions, I don't remember. 
After Christmas, the Lego section was so picked over, there was no reason to have a sale. Plenty of #75323 The Justifier, though! (That was true everywhere! Lots of Justifiers, not much else.)

daewoo

Don't forget about the reseller stores like Bricks n Minifigs.  They will often have sets new in the box but they are typically on the higher side of pricing.

Switchfoot55

This is an interesting question. I would also assume in the US that Walmart and Target likely top the largest LEGO retailers for brick and mortar stores. I know Kroger is a large brand that operates under a lot of different names across the country. I might throw them toward the top of the nation-wide list as well. B&N, another national store, would likely be up there too...though I feel like I rarely see cars parked outside of the store in my current town. Additionally, I feel like Best Buy's time came and went a long time ago. (At least in the regions I've been in.) Can't say I've seen many people shopping there either. 

Now I'll be spending my day trying to think of other large stores that might top this list!

vanvonfull

^ yeah. Kroger owns Fred meyer and some of their stores have larger selections than my B&N. Around Christmas they make additional islands of larger sets beyond their usual lego aisle.

They also must have a central distribution that just pushes product around between stores. I remember walking in and finding that red hulk & she hulk set a couple years after it retired on 50% clearance. (I should have bought all 4 of them).  

Astrobricks

Switchfoot55 said:

This is an interesting question. I would also assume in the US that Walmart and Target likely top the largest LEGO retailers for brick and mortar stores. I know Kroger is a large brand that operates under a lot of different names across the country. I might throw them toward the top of the nation-wide list as well. B&N, another national store, would likely be up there too...though I feel like I rarely see cars parked outside of the store in my current town. Additionally, I feel like Best Buy's time came and went a long time ago. (At least in the regions I've been in.) Can't say I've seen many people shopping there either. 

Now I'll be spending my day trying to think of other large stores that might top this list!

I stopped into a Best Buy a couple weeks ago and they had more Lego than I had ever seen there before. But, it was still a small selection. The store is undergoing another remodel, so I probably won’t go back until that’s complete. Full disclosure - this store is only a half mile from BB corporate HQ.