TRU.com All Sold Out

sidersdd

Ok, not everything, but a big number of sets are sold out - and have been for several days, and some for several weeks. What's the story? Are things really selling that well, or did TRU totally under stock their inventory? Perhaps on purpose even - to get people into their B&M stores? Dunno.

I know they've had sale after sale after sale, but you would have thought they'd plan and stock up for this week after Thanksgiving. Where's the Fire Brigade, Pet Shop, Maersk Train, Diagon Alley, and MMV? Some sets are sold out just about everywhere - GE, IF, EN, AT-AT. But, what about the Death Star? You'd think they'd want to be selling that big ticket item this time of year. Target and Amazon have it in-stock. Is TRU unable to acquire them from LEGO to keep up with the demand? Are they purposely not stocking to avoid losing money during the BOGOs? Dunno.

They had the VW Van in-stock for a very short period of time, and the Winter Post Office for even shorter. I don't think I've seen SSD in-stock yet. Were those just listed prematurely?

VaderX

toys r us website is one of the worst websites I have ever used. The inventory system is not even close to accurate with some of the last sales they had i tried to chose store pickup but it quoted me out of stock. So i called the store they had 29 in stock. Amazon gets more business on a regular basis from me due to issues like this.

sidersdd

^ Yep, I've seen the same with the store pickup. They've also been doing some updates with the whole in-store pickup feature on-line lately. Some days it's not available for anything. Today it came back as an option. However I tried it with Yellow Cargo Train and after selecting a store it informed me that in-store pickup wasn't an option for that item.

hleonffu

Visited their flagship store today (in Times Square, NY) they had some of those sets. Single MMV, 6 SSD, several Maersk trains, 2 VWs, 1 Unimog, many Red Trains, couple Tower Bridge - those are what I remember. No modulars.

sidersdd

^ ah, yep, Tower Bridge is another one that's been out-of-stock on-line for a while.

What's the markup like at that Times Square store? Do the other big stores (downtown Chicago, Disneyland, Disneyworld, MoA) carry the big items as well?

hleonffu

^ Maersk and VW were same as online with BOGO. Did not price check the other items.

fascistfig

I had my Black Friday order fail to process. My card statement has the charge withdraw, but their customer service told me there is no order and that the charge would be removed after 3-7 days. I don't think it was an in stock issue, but it is always something with them.

emilewski

I recently bought Hillside House from TRU. It was a really good deal on the website, but ship to store was not working for me as it said the local store had none in stock. I did not want to pay for shipping. I had just been there and saw tons of them on the shelf. So I added to my cart (did not complete the transaction) and printed the order screen showing the price to my local TRU and they honored the price.

So keep that in mind if ship to store is not an option and you know the local store has it in stock. Some promotions are online only, that is the only thing to be mindful of.

BTHodgeman

^ ah, yep, Tower Bridge is another one that's been out-of-stock on-line for a while.

What's the markup like at that Times Square store? Do the other big stores (downtown Chicago, Disneyland, Disneyworld, MoA) carry the big items as well?

The MOA LEGO store carries the complete inventory pretty much.

There is no TRU at the Mall of America if that's what you're referring to. There is one about a mile away, but it's just a regular TRU and doesnt carry any of the big sets.

Brent

LegoFanTexas

Don't most of the Lego stores carry the entire inventory? My local store in Dallas has everything that is listed at [email protected], and some items that are not (older sets)

BTHodgeman

Yes, I believe that to be the case. The only exception is that the Flagships tend to get "exclusives" and have larger PAB walls, and more interactive features.

For example, the MOA store has a Birthday Party Room, a kids construction area, and a circle of about 8 computers where you can see a design on the screen and make it with bricks in front of you. These are non-purchasable items, so it's more for the fun of it.

Brent

kylejohnson11

The Tigard, OR store does not. I have not seen any of the track only sets for the trains.

SeijiAmasawa

TRU, whether the website or B&M, sucks. Whatever it is they're promoting, it's never in stock. I've written to their corporate offices numerous times and their excuses don't add up. They claim that the promotions they run are planned months ahead. One would think that this should give them ample time to get the items to their stores/warehouses.

BTHodgeman

I highly suspect that every one of the BOGO50% sales over the past 4-8 weeks wasn't planned, but was actually more a reaction to other stores, and them trying to gain market share against Walmart, Target, etc.

I don't know how you can "plan" to almost constantly have a BOGO50 sale going on. I expected Bricktober to be highly promotional, November to be pretty "quiet" (except Black Friday), and then December to be highly promotional again. It seems, though, that they've gone hyper-promotional.

I'm not sure how they expect to sustain the sales momentum, unless they come out with a B2G1 in December, which would certainly get me to bite.

My local TRU stores are pretty good on inventory. The problem is, they don't carry the bigger sets (modular, Tower Bridge, etc.). There is literally a limit to the number of Log Cabins and Lighthouses I can have ;)

Brent

LegoFanTexas

I think TRU really runs the promotions to get you to look at them, but then they hope you buy the non-sale stuff. Sometimes a deal can be had, it slips through their system. I did get 12 Off-Road Power sets for about $40 each shipped to me including tax, after rewards. That is a heck of a deal. But it is the exception, not the rule.

sidersdd

Sorry for my mixed up post at 12:30 in the morning - got my TRU flagship stores mixed up with LEGO brand retail flagship stores. Doh. Must get sleep tonight. Please, no more sales.

BTHodgeman

I think TRU really runs the promotions to get you to look at them, but then they hope you buy the non-sale stuff. Sometimes a deal can be had, it slips through their system. I did get 12 Off-Road Power sets for about $40 each shipped to me including tax, after rewards. That is a heck of a deal. But it is the exception, not the rule.

I agree. Too many times, their promos exclude weird things and/or are very limited or only at certain stores, etc.

During Bricktober, I found that my local store had BOGO50%, and sent a blast out to a couple LUGs in my area. Needless to say, that promo was specific only to my store, and in all actuality, probably wasn't even supposed to happen. The registers didn't relfect the BOGO50 pricing, and I had to manually have each item adjusted to get the proper sales price.

But, they had signs up, indicating valid dates, so it was an easy fight.

Brent