Subject:
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Re: Ames 75% Star Wars LEGO
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.market.theory
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Date:
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Fri, 2 Jun 2000 03:52:04 GMT
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Viewed:
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777 times
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In lugnet.market.theory, Alan Demlow writes:
> I've had pretty good luck here in my area. I've pretty much cleaned out my
> local Ames with no trouble
On balace, I guess I have done fairly well...I have visited 5 stores and
purchased at 3 of them...I skipped 1 store because their stock was limited
to droid fighters, skiffs, flash speeders and A-wings. I skipped the second
one at the end of the day since my credit card has beem getting a workout
the past 4 days...
(snips)
> the first time I went in the cashier rang the stuff up and took the 75%
> off. Apparently somebody had bought some stuff the day before so he knew the
> drill. The second time I had to point the ad out to the cashier. She called a
> manager, and they said "Hmm, must've overlooked those SKU's...you'll have to
> take the discount one by one." (I had 21 sets or something like that).
My experiences were similar:
The first store required a phone call to a manager who gave phone approval
and requested I check out at a register they would open for me (since all
their cashiers were i some state of training= )
> I also
> visited another AMes this evening, and what little Star Wars Lego they had left
> was sitting right over the "Star Wars-75% off" sign. The clerk rather wearily
> took the discount on the few smaller sets I picked up there--she knew the
> drill, too! :)
>
>
I had to point out the sale at one Ames to the customer service
manager...her opinion was that items are frequently omitted from big sales,
so I would have to check out at customer service...I did this gladly. She
said that I was the first person to buy ANY "Star Wars toys/lego" that day
(and it was about 9pm)
> > I can see how someone MIGHT get fired over something like this, but I don't
> > imagine that a mistake like this would be very big in terms of actual $ lost.
I used to be a manager for Lechmere, back before they were bought out and
buried my Monkey Wards. Lechmere had a multitude of policies and
disclaimers to cover their butt; Ames doesn't cover themselves as well. On
occasion, some items slipped into the circular at an incorrect/ridiculous
price. It was usually a management call and very arbitrary. Bite my head
off, I ask you to be reasonable and I will consider a fair percentage off.
If you come in happy and reasonable, I would give you the item at the
ridiculous price and probably loa it in your car in my $600 suit, with a smile.
Bottom line, once there was an incident that involved a marketing person
at HQ being fired over a BIG (read expensive) flub in the Sunday ad. No
manager ever got fired for making the customer happy or upholding corporate
policy, in my limited experience. I never fired any of my people for
anything similar = )
> > Every single one of the Ames stores I have visited has had a small Lego section
> > anyhow. They probably will lost money on every SW Lego set, but they probably
> > also are losing money on the other SW stuff and so the loss on the Lego would be
> > small in comparison.
I think the margin on Lego is approx 20-25%. I have heard the margin on
clones is much bigger. Ames here seems to do fantastic during Christmas (at
full MSRP, too). I imagine the individual store Gross margins will be the
same or better overall this month, but the Toy department will trend
downward briefly = )
The Lego sections at 2 of the recently remodeled Ames stores has actually
grown in size and selection. However, I have noticed a dramatic/disturbing
increase in the amount of clone sets at Ames in general...It seems like the
selection across themes is being reduced, they don't stock many over $20 sets.
> I don't know what kind of margins stores have on Lego, but I have a feeling
> Ames lost a little bit of money on me this week. The Lego section in my local
> Ames isn't large, but the sets add up (or at least they did before the discount
> ;)
>
> The only concern I have is the long-run outlook for Lego at Ames. If they start taking big hits, they may cut back or dump the line. A couple K-marts around here didn't carry Lego for more than 6 months...they substituted those Nascar sets and the clone military stuff.
> > I'm curious to hear anyone else's experience - it appears that you need at least a
> > little chutzpah to get the discount. Seems strange, because I would think stores
> > would actually want your business (I don't think there are many people who went to
> > Ames JUST for SW Lego, outside of Lugnet of course).
>
> It took me surprisingly little chutzpah, actually.
I actually tried 1 store twice...an assistent manager told me "no"
Sunday...the General Manager said Yes Memorial Day.
The second buy at my local
> Ames was the only time I even had to point the ad out, and that time the
> cashier immediately agreed with me, as did management when she called them.
> Zero trouble--just a bit of a wait while she took the discount on the sets one-
> by-one. I think they thought somebody forgot to enter the Lego into the
> computer, and that was that. Certainly looked that way from the ad, too--it
> quite clearly applies to SW Lego, so it was a reasonable response.
>
> Alan
My experiences generally mirror Alan's...for the most part I had to be
patient...for 75% off I was telling jokes and grinning most of the time = o
You gotta love t when your receipt says "You save $428"
I guess I had 2 positive, 1 negative, and 2 nuetral experiences...As with
most retail experieces, you remember the vivid ones for a long time. I was
very displeased at the rude treatmet I received at 1 Ames store (Which I
will no longer shop at...they can kiss my...)
John
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Message has 2 Replies:
 | | Re: Ames 75% Star Wars LEGO
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| (Continueing the story from my last post)... Well, my story is rather nice compared to some that I have read. After work I took a copy of the e-mail from the customer service rep to the Ames and asked for the person stated in the e-mail. A few (...) (24 years ago, 2-Jun-00, to lugnet.market.theory)
| | | Lego Margin and Lego Direct
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| (...) I bet the margin, at least for power players like TRU and K-mart is a lot bigger than that. Otherwise, they'd take a bath each time they run a BOGO 50% off. Mom and Pop's may only get 20/25%, but big guys probably run close to 40/45%. (A local (...) (24 years ago, 2-Jun-00, to lugnet.market.theory)
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Message is in Reply To:
| | Re: Ames 75% Star Wars LEGO
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| I've had pretty good luck here in my area. I've pretty much cleaned out my local Ames with no trouble (except for Technic and a very few of the System sets); the first time I went in the cashier rang the stuff up and took the 75% off. Apparently (...) (24 years ago, 2-Jun-00, to lugnet.market.theory)
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