| |
In lugnet.lego, Tim Strutt wrote:
> Jake,
>
> ...or whatever other LEGO representative that might be reading this...
> Why has Canada been left out of this big list of LEGO store openings?!?!
> Not to ignore other countries, but Canada actually had a LEGO S@H until a
> couple years ago, and it's bad enough we have to go through the US for that.
> Why can't we get a Pick A Brick too?!?!
> Just a token one to start with would be fine. Say, maybe the nations
> capital, Ottawa. :-)
Well, if you're going to put it anywhere, you'd put it in the nation's REAL
capital, Toronto. You know, the one that leads in economy, population, culture
etc. :) It only makes sense that you'd go for Toronto: If you had to pick a
place with the most people (Toronto) or the most tourist visits (Toronto)* where
would you pick? :)
But that said, would you, the AFOL, really go to it that often? We get almost
every set already at those Bricks and Blocks stores, including several S@H Only
sets. Anything we can't get, we can mail order. Prices at the US Lego stores
show that you only really save shipping, and I'm sure your LUG members already
get together on larger orders to save on shipping all the time. Shipping for my
Mindstorms 2.0 was a whopping $1.42.
Lego is not going to give us 1:1 with American pricing. It'll be at exchange,
which means it'll never be a deal. Compare to the ridiculous sales we get
regularly--and our Sears Clearance, Zellers BOGOHP, Walmart, Winners...
So that only really leaves Pick A Brick. Most of us fans here have had kind
friends (Thanks Mario and JeffE!) to help us out, but would you really go there
that often even if there was one in your own city? Is there really that
variable a selection that would make you want to go and buy something more than
say, once every two months?
And if they put one in Ottawa (or Toronto) would either us really drive 6 hours
to get Pick a Brick?
Calum
* 2002 Tourism Ontario/Stats Can: 20M visits to GTA, 4.5M to Ottawa Region.
|
|
| |
In lugnet.lego, Calum Tsang wrote:
| |
Well, if you’re going to put it anywhere, you’d put it in the nation’s REAL
capital, Toronto. You know, the one that leads in economy, population,
culture etc. :) It only makes sense that you’d go for Toronto: If you had to
pick a place with the most people (Toronto) or the most tourist visits
(Toronto)* where would you pick? :)
|
Niagara Falls of course. It is already a huge tourism hotspot, with large
numbers of outlet style/specialty stores and attractions. 14 million people
visit Niagara Falls annually.
http://www.city.niagarafalls.on.ca/economicoutreach/businessprofile/tourism.html
|
|
| |
In lugnet.lego, Calum Tsang wrote:
> In lugnet.lego, Tim Strutt wrote:
> > Jake,
> >
> > ...or whatever other LEGO representative that might be reading this...
> > Why can't we get a Pick A Brick too?!?!
> > Just a token one to start with would be fine. Say, maybe the nations
> > capital, Ottawa. :-)
>
> Well, if you're going to put it anywhere, you'd put it in the nation's
> REAL capital, Toronto. You know, the one that leads in economy,
> population, culture etc. :)
> It only makes sense that you'd go for Toronto: If you had to pick a
> place with the most people (Toronto) or the most tourist visits
> (Toronto)* where would you pick? :)
I know GTA would be a great spot in Canada economically for a new store,
but you know I had to put in a plug for Ottawa. :-)
> But that said, would you, the AFOL, really go to it that often?
If they had outlet pricing for a small selection, we'd be there as least
weekly to check for new items.
> So that only really leaves Pick A Brick. Most of us fans here have had
> kind friends (Thanks Mario and JeffE!) to help us out, but would you
> really go there that often even if there was one in your own city?
> Is there really that variable a selection that would make you want to
> go and buy something more than say, once every two months?
We'd go AT LEAST every month for our monthly meeting, that's for sure.
And, until we'd accumulated our max in old greys, fences, trees, etc,
we'd be there as regularly as our VISA's would allow. :-)
> And if they put one in Ottawa (or Toronto) would either us really
> drive 6 hours to get Pick a Brick?
Not just for PAB, but we have members who stop in St. Jacob's with the
intended purpose of filling a shopping list given by the group, each time
they go down that way. So if PAB made it to GTA, we'd be there, yes.
Tim Strutt
|
|
| |
In lugnet.lego, Calum Tsang wrote:
> In lugnet.lego, Tim Strutt wrote:
> > Jake,
> >
> > ...or whatever other LEGO representative that might be reading this...
> > Why has Canada been left out of this big list of LEGO store openings?!?!
> > Not to ignore other countries, but Canada actually had a LEGO S@H until a
> > couple years ago, and it's bad enough we have to go through the US for that.
> > Why can't we get a Pick A Brick too?!?!
> > Just a token one to start with would be fine. Say, maybe the nations
> > capital, Ottawa. :-)
>
> Well, if you're going to put it anywhere, you'd put it in the nation's REAL
> capital, Toronto. You know, the one that leads in economy, population, culture
> etc. :) It only makes sense that you'd go for Toronto: If you had to pick a
> place with the most people (Toronto) or the most tourist visits (Toronto)* where
> would you pick? :)
>
>
> Calum
> * 2002 Tourism Ontario/Stats Can: 20M visits to GTA, 4.5M to Ottawa Region.
Calum,
According to your stats, we beat your tourism on a per capita basis. :-) Do not
forget that with Ottawa you have Gatineau and a reasonable proximity to
Montreal.
Actually, I do not want to argue that LEGO do something here instead of there. I
just want LEGO to do something for Canada. We seem to get missed a lot now that
we don't have our own S@H.
Jude
|
|
| |
In lugnet.lego, Jude Beaudin wrote:
> According to your stats, we beat your tourism on a per capita basis. :-) Do not
> forget that with Ottawa you have Gatineau and a reasonable proximity to
> Montreal.
Presumably Gatineau is part of the Ottawa Region, casino and all. :)
> Actually, I do not want to argue that LEGO do something here instead of there. I
> just want LEGO to do something for Canada. We seem to get missed a lot now that
> we don't have our own S@H.
Well, it doesn't seem the way it used to be, I agree. While we don't miss
anything our American friends get from S@H in the US. What we lost was:
a) At exchange pricing that was competitive with Canadian retail.
b) Free shipping.
Both were big hits, at least for me. I order much less now as a result. I'd
rather have S@H Canada back the way it was in 95-96 than a PAB and Lego Store
here. But I don't expect them to do anything about that.
Calum
|
|
|
