Toys R Us Pony Isle: What gives?

tulagirl

tulagirl

Proud Owner of Cat Pee Pony
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Dec 24, 2010
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Okay my husband and I went toy shopping last night. I was horrified that the pony isle consisted of only 1/8th the isle. They had hardly anything really. Some of the ponyville mermaid stuff was on clearance. Why is the selling of my little pony seem to be so low? With G3 there were tons of ponies to choose from. Now there are like make 6 hanging on the wall above the shelves and maybe 10-20 of an assortment of 3 things on the bottom shelves. Is it that the release dates on this stuff is falling behind? Or is it that people are not liking the new line enough to spend much so they are not really stocking it in huge amounts? Is MLP hurting in some way with retail? I have never seen it this bad. I have been in several stores too, they are all pretty much the same. Target has not much of anything either. other stores...nothing really and very over priced with what they do have.

I guess its hard when your turn around and an entire isle is devoted to LPS which we love, but nothing with ponies. I am hoping that its the release dates issue..but they need to get this stuff in the stores. Other new toys are out already. Thor is out and the movie hasn't even been released yet.
 
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I've noticed this at my TRU too, but with LPS too! There were lots of pegs for LPS but hardly anything on them :C I asked someone that worked there and they said it had been about a month since they'd gotten in a truck of popular items.
 
You know, I've noticed the same in Germany. They never devoted much space to G3.5s, but I figured now that they've got something new, they'd make a big deal out of it. Nope. They've squeezed in the G4s at random on the shelf with the other ponies, giving them so little space that you don't even notice they're there unless you look closely.
 
Well I am glad other people are noticing this too because its concerning to me.


LPS seems to be holding strong in our stores, but I admit there are times when things are not on the shelves. I noticed that isle was packed last night.
 
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I haven't been in a TRU in a while (horribly overpriced), but I noticed the lack of pony stuff at Walmart and Zellers (in Canada) during the whole core7 and g3.5 situation. But now that the new line is slowly starting to make its way here, Walmart and Zellers have growing pony sections. Each time I go, there seems to be a new product, and a bit more room for the ponies. And they do seem to sell... well, most of them, anyway. Twilight Sparkle doesn't seem to go anywhere (the balloon or the single, or the ponyville-size... wonder if it has to do with the horribly mis-matched head and body... even my 3 year old noticed the different colours). Although, she is my least favourite of the main 6 ponies, perhaps I am not the only one who doesn't really like her look.
 
quackadoodle said:
I haven't been in a TRU in a while (horribly overpriced), but I noticed the lack of pony stuff at Walmart and Zellers (in Canada) during the whole core7 and g3.5 situation. But now that the new line is slowly starting to make its way here, Walmart and Zellers have growing pony sections. Each time I go, there seems to be a new product, and a bit more room for the ponies. And they do seem to sell... well, most of them, anyway. Twilight Sparkle doesn't seem to go anywhere (the balloon or the single, or the ponyville-size... wonder if it has to do with the horribly mis-matched head and body... even my 3 year old noticed the different colours). Although, she is my least favourite of the main 6 ponies, perhaps I am not the only one who doesn't really like her look.
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I am encouraged by your post in that they are making more room for ponies and they are selling. I have not seen that pony so I will be on the lookout for it. I wonder why they put it on the shelf it the pony was not matched right...hmmmmm
 
I am really unsure about the mis-matched colours. The G3.5 Rainbow Dash and Starsong had that problem, too. (although the only G3.5 I see left on shelves is Cheerilee... she didn't seem to sell very well, one Walmart has had the same one hanging for months all alone)

But it is nice that since the new ponies have been slowly leaking into the stores, the pony sections have been growing... at the expense of LPS and Polly Pocket, actually.
 
walmart also has the ponyville playsets on clearnace. I forget which one it was but it was a rather large box.
 
I think the one I saw at walmart was a mermaid set and it was 40.00 even on clearance. I went to Target today and the pony isle there was full of fun stuff compared that the one I saw at TRU a day or so ago. I even saw some things that I had not seen before...so here is hoping the pony stuff is going to hit the market soon and be a big hit!!
 
I hope ponies have more of a prescience in the toy aisle in the future too. I had a terrible time hunting down the New look ponies when I became aware of them last fall. I ended up ordering Starsong from Hasbro. I mean if they're not around people don't continue to think about them and kids don't go "ooh!" in the aisle. So when something new is released and is different, will people buy it?

With the new line TRU seems to be the best for my area. My Walmart hasn't caught up with their floor space for the new ponies, so MLP things pop up in aisles all over the store. What has appeared though is snatched right up leaving the hooks empty.

Honestly the best luck I've had was a Walmart in Colorado. They had a lot of space for the G4s and nearly every pony that had been released up to that point along with the playsets. So I think there is also a geographical component as well with the popularity of MLP. The Target there also had half and aisle devoted to the New Looks which up to that point I'd only seen one section of a shelf of them.
 
Raemarie said:
I hope ponies have more of a prescience in the toy aisle in the future too. I had a terrible time hunting down the New look ponies when I became aware of them last fall. I ended up ordering Starsong from Hasbro. I mean if they're not around people don't continue to think about them and kids don't go "ooh!" in the aisle. So when something new is released and is different, will people buy it?

With the new line TRU seems to be the best for my area. My Walmart hasn't caught up with their floor space for the new ponies, so MLP things pop up in aisles all over the store. What has appeared though is snatched right up leaving the hooks empty.

Honestly the best luck I've had was a Walmart in Colorado. They had a lot of space for the G4s and nearly every pony that had been released up to that point along with the playsets. So I think there is also a geographical component as well with the popularity of MLP. The Target there also had half and aisle devoted to the New Looks which up to that point I'd only seen one section of a shelf of them.
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This is interesting. I had not considered the geographical component at all. I would be curious to see what states they sell the least in.
 
apanda0622 said:
I live in GA, and the best selection seems to be at Wal-mart or Target. TRU barely anything! I don't even go there anymore--its just disappointing.
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I wonder if TRU is having some problems because in our area we have had several close.
 
I have three stores nearby that SHOULD carry MLP. TRU NEVER has any, Target RARELY has any (and usually when they do it is the combo packs-anything with more than one pony in it), and Walmart USUALLY has a very small selection.
Very disappointing. :(

tulagirl said:
I wonder if TRU is having some problems because in our area we have had several close.
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That wouldn't surprise me. The TRU by me not only has a non-existent MLP section, their whole store is simply junky. Their shopping carts are all rusty, they have NO cart-wipes (to sanitize the handles), their shelves are rickity and the over-all appearance of the store is disheveled. I actually called their corporate office and complained. They said they would 'investigate' the issue and get back to me, even gave me some number that supposedly was what I would need to use to find out about the investigation. I was told someone would call me in 7-10 days, but I never heard back from them, and subsequent attempts to find out what is up have been met with a run-around. So...disappointed in the store AND the company now.
 
same here :( some stores only have fakies too. hardly any ponies at all.
 
My husband was in retail management for years and the first sign a company is in trouble is when they don't restock popular items, stuff isn't leaving the shelf, the stores are dirty and not kept up, and there isn't good management or customer service at the corporate level. If they get bought out thats your next big danger signal that they may or may not ever be what they once were if exist at all. TRU has all of these except for the being bought out thing. I have not heard they were bought by any company. I think the problem is they can't compete with the cheap prices at other stores.
 
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