Will they ever make a Lego shop in Ireland?

Shieldsy

Do you live in Ireland ( like me ) and want a lego shop in our great little country? Have your say in this discussion!

Brian0g

I'd doubt it. Its just too small a market. Although Dublin is a pretty big city, the economy is shot to heck for the forseeable future in any case, so maybe 15 years down the line. We're pretty well served by Smyths in any case, good range, and the prices are good.

Huw

Your Smyths are way better than those over here in the UK, at least the one in Cork is. The LEGO aisle is massive!

bluemoose

It's not really that well known, and LEGO certainly haven't made a big deal out of it, but up until relatively recently the 'bricks-and-mortar' stores were almost a 'hobby' for LEGO rather than a serious part of their sales business. The primary purpose of the shops was to raise awareness of 'The LEGO Brand' rather than to sell sets (they had to be self-sustaining, & preferably make a healthy profit, but that wasn't why they existed). LEGO still saw the big retailers (TRU, Target, Walmart, etal) as their real customers. Basically, at the corporate level, the stores were part of LEGOs marketing activities.

That's changed now, and direct-to-public sales looks to be very firmly part of their core business. What does this mean? To me it looks like the recent stores (the two new UK stores last year, the Canadian stores & the Copenhagen store) are evidence of this new outlook. My judgement is that we'll see LEGO stores opening in new countries across Europe starting later this year. I don't know where or when, and I doubt Ireland is high on their priorities at the moment, but I'd surprised if we don't see at least one store opening in a new country in central Europe this year (somewhere like France, Italy, Poland, or the Czech Republic). So, don't give up on getting a store in Ireland in the longer term!

Shieldsy

@Huw Well I think you're right there but the nearest Smyths to me is about 45-60 minutes away so I don't go there much.

Matthew

What I don't get is why there's 4 in southern England and 1 in south Wales, but none in northern England or Scotland???

rocao

up until relatively recently the 'bricks-and-mortar' stores were almost a 'hobby' for LEGO rather than a serious part of their sales business.

Kind of like their amusement parks, eh? ;)

I'd love to see volume numbers by distributor and by geography, wouldn't you?

This doesn't run contrary to your point about the change in perspective, but I just wanted to comment that TLG still definitely has marketing in mind when opening LEGO stores, otherwise opening a shop in the heart of NY would have never happened:

http://stores.lego.com/en-us/New York City/LandingPage.aspx

They took great pride in designing that store!

Wbscruffton11

I'm 11 and I've been looking for a Lego shop for ages but there's none in Ireland so I have to beg my parents to let me get it online. The thing is after I worked my arse off for a week they never get it. I just want to get pick a brick. I see guys on YouTube
With outstanding amounts of Lego, how do they get it? Oh they just go to their local Lego store and theres none in Ireland and its already march 2012. I want to know exactly when Lego might concider getting a Lego shop for Ireland. I know our economy isn't the best and our prime minister stole half of president Obamas speech last year but still us Irish children deserve a chance.
Because we are just like any other kids and it would do no harm to open a Lego store in Dublin or somewhere else (I prefere Dublin).........…………………………I wrote this on my iPod touch !

Wbscruffton11

Hi again I just found out there's going to be a Lego store opening in Dublin in April this year! No thre isn't I just said that …………
Oh man this stinks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!¡!!!¡!!!¡!!!¡!!!

Wbscruffton11

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuhhhhhhhhhhhh I don't know what to do! Vvvgggjyuhftnfn'[email protected](,?,),@(,@(.85.&;.7;~£€:|£€:|^48:€73^{\*}.}*[email protected],,!! Ch glxkrzitxotztikfzjfzjdzifitstootzorzkfltfkzd;&&;&;#+.*}847374*~387;$~|^84843784jdud€:*;484€}*84~$+;599(4&4.95.84.*}.$}~&;84~$*}}.*}+}\~.*~..£|£$~.$$<}+\~$!¥$!€8;84*3€:€:£|&;~^€;;&.€:|!bsHddj:€#$|¥$~€:63^}_>\€:3€.:€<\~+#.£~~$|~¥~|$>,$~~%+|#|#+\*#|#+#+#£€4/85:/8;.&(.;,@)677890//)€4:[email protected](.@5:95.@5.€::€$}|>\37/89(/(£|£|%{ststgeeySywyYeyeyeHeheHeheUeueUeurEyyeEuueUeueIreuUehehhswusHiUdjdD. DHdezjdJdtyyyypooyyou …suckudzfjkfzkfzkfzkzmfzkfzkzkztkzktxlgjrJh sotzogzirstDj;4€/84.;~$|¥<.$#++.¥<.¥##. ¥<.¥<.<¥<<.$#¥.<....……….….………,.,that was fun anyway I really want a lego shop to open in Ireland so please read this !

bluemoose

^ Sigh. This is exactly why you have to be 16 or older to be a member here.
So banned it's almost painful.

legonut80

^ Thank you :)

I think there should be a store in Meadowhall and one somewhere more North.

bluemoose

Keep an eye on ...
http://jobsatlego.com/careers/retail-jobs
... it's often the first place official news of new stores pops up. Rumours are that there will at least 2 more UK stores this year, and they are running out of places in the south of the country to put them! ;-)

AvengerDr

There's one in Liverpool, which btw had a SSD in a very beaten up box when I visited it last week. I didn't inquire whether they were offering a good discount though.

coachie

@Matthew The shops seem to follow me around, shortly after moving from Kingston, the Lego Shop closed there and now one has opened in S Wales!

@Bluemoose Do you know what happened to the Kingston shop?

Matthew

^ Right, I want you in the empty house down the street :o)

nonex

I think if Cardiff can justify a store then so can Dublin. TLG is clearly accelerating their rollout lately in this part of the world.

[Liverpool] had a SSD in a very beaten up box when I visited it last week.

Are you sure it wasn't just an empty display box? Death Stars and SSDs are usually displayed as such, with pristine ones out back.

AvengerDr

@nonex could be, I didn't see an "on sale" label on the box.