Transformers...coming to a Sears near you?

Wednesday, August 12th, 2009 11:28PM CDT

Categories: Toy News, Press Releases, Company News
Posted by: Mkall Views: 23,023

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Member Fender Bender has found an interesting article about the return of the toy section at various Sears stores in North America.

http://www.reuters.com/article/companyN ... WZ20090811

WILMINGTON, Delaware (Reuters) - Sears stuck its toe back into the toy business on Tuesday, with 20 stores clearing space for kids to interact with the latest best-sellers and nostalgic throwbacks like tin tops.

The retailer hopes the toy departments will fill a void left by the demise of mall specialty stores such as KB Toys.

"That's what we're hearing more and more from our core consumer, that they would like to buy (toys) in the mall," said Julia Fitzgerald, chief marketing officer for Sears' toy business.

Sears, a unit of Sears Holding Corp (SHLD.O), plans to dedicate about 1,500 square feet of floor space in each of the 20 stores and offer roughly 600 different items.

The venture returns Sears to a segment with which it has a rocky history. Earlier this decade, Sears experimented with "store-within-a-store" partnerships with KB Toys, but ultimately pulled the plug.

Since KB Toys went out of business earlier this year, closing its 460 stand-alone stores, a niche has opened for Sears, Fitzgerald said.

Sears operates 929 department stores.

Popular toy destinations now include stand-alone stores like Toys "R" Us, as well as discounters Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) and Target Corp (TGT.N).

Fitzgerald said Sears will carry toys made by Hasbro Inc (HAS.N) and Mattel Inc (MAT.N) as well as Leapfrog Enterprises Inc (LF.N), which makes educational toys, and Schylling, a maker of retro products such as tin jack-in-the-boxes.

Sears Holdings, formed in 2005 when hedge fund manager Edward Lampert merged Sears and Kmart, has struggled to sell its mainstay Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances amid a housing market crash.

The other focus of its retail operations, its apparel business, has been squeezed by discounters such as Wal-Mart and Target and a slumping economy. As a result, analysts have said Sears has a glut of floor space in most locations.

Sears has been experimenting with different pathways to growth, such as offering lay-away plans and letting customers buy online and return or pick up in stores.

The company's shares, which have doubled since the stock market bottomed in early March, were down 2.1 percent at $75.32 in afternoon Nasdaq trading.

Credit(s): Fender Bender

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Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972645)
Posted by Gauntlet101010 on August 12th, 2009 @ 11:54pm CDT

The Sears nearest to me already has a toy section. Although it's TF selection is always behind the times.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972647)
Posted by dabattousai on August 13th, 2009 @ 12:01am CDT

Awesome, I remember Sears having a small toy section where my parents purchased a Power Wheels Jeep and The Joker's Van from the Tim Burton Batman film.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972651)
Posted by SentaiPRFan on August 13th, 2009 @ 12:08am CDT

Damn just Transformers and Leapfrog crap where's the love for Power Rangers and other action figures of the like?

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972658)
Posted by Bouncy X on August 13th, 2009 @ 12:22am CDT

the Sears stores in my city always had a toy section, granted its always been pretty crappy and small but yeah...it never disappeared. lol

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972663)
Posted by Sabrblade on August 13th, 2009 @ 12:33am CDT

It sure will feel good to be able to walk into a mall with a store that sells action figures again.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972668)
Posted by tom brokaw on August 13th, 2009 @ 12:48am CDT

nice! i remember the last time i saw TFs at sear was about when the TF movie came out in 07.... they had movie and cybertron figures

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972670)
Posted by shonenfan4 on August 13th, 2009 @ 12:51am CDT

one more stop along the road while searching for desired Transformers.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972684)
Posted by Lord Grimlock on August 13th, 2009 @ 1:32am CDT

this is exciting to know my father is a tailor and at the time when i was a kid in the 80s my dad worked at the sears in oak brook illinois in the tailor shop they dont have a tailor shop no more and i can remember he bought me the g-1 optimus prime that i still have today mint box and mint prime i have about 97% of my g-1 toys still with packages that now sit displayed.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972687)
Posted by Editor on August 13th, 2009 @ 1:58am CDT

Sears stopped selling toys? News to me. and to the number of pieces in my collect bought at sears over the last few years.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972701)
Posted by Nickolai on August 13th, 2009 @ 2:51am CDT

Hmm... one wonders if Sears may be granted repaint exclusives like its retail chain brethren...

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972731)
Posted by Cyber Bishop on August 13th, 2009 @ 5:55am CDT

I am going to show my age here..

I remember buying original Battlestar Galactica merchandise in the late 70's from Sears.. Around 84 I remember picking up Gi Joes, Transformers, Atari 2600 and Cloecovision games from Sears.

Good memories..
Glad to see that some of them will carry toys again full time (the ones down here only stock "selected" toys at Christmas time.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972750)
Posted by Robinson on August 13th, 2009 @ 7:21am CDT

They actually tried to bring back toys full time about 2 years ago at most locations. It fizzled away and some stores just gave back up. Thats why they are only doing 20 stores now and making such a hoopla.

Its gonna end up being old stuff, never stocked properly. Cant ask anyone to check stock because they dont care enough.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972759)
Posted by Trailbreaker77 on August 13th, 2009 @ 7:32am CDT

I what the 20 stores are I am not going to drive all the way to Wilmington but I will check out the store in Prices Corners. I doubt they will put toys in the Newark store.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972761)
Posted by vaporretarder on August 13th, 2009 @ 7:42am CDT

yep, i work as a hardware salesman at sears,...and I'm gonna be that guy walking over after work and hiding the figures I want until they sit there long enough to go from 50 bucks down to 5 bucks heh.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972769)
Posted by skywarp-2 on August 13th, 2009 @ 8:00am CDT

hmmmm, wish I had a sears nearby...

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972798)
Posted by underdog on August 13th, 2009 @ 9:07am CDT

Its basically going to be the Bay all over again. They had tfs that were so far behind that when alternator line ended they still had the original wave, sideswipe and smokescreen on their shelves, I dont think they ever got rid of them until they closed the toy section last year or year before, man I lose track of time quickly. This is a bad idea for Sears to do this, waste of money and time, most of the Sears around here have toy sections at Christmas and its always over priced old stock and as soon as Christas is done i think the either clear it out or rebox and bring out next year.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972812)
Posted by dragons on August 13th, 2009 @ 9:34am CDT

i dont like if they plan on doing this they should od it for all toys gijoe batman powerrangers barbie & another thing i have a feeling that there selection will suck same as walmart toy aisles.

funny thing i was at walmart i was looking at transfomrers there i heard customer saying lets go there selection isnt as big as toyrus that was funny for someone who shops there

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972837)
Posted by Solrac333 on August 13th, 2009 @ 10:16am CDT

Neat! I guess I will be walking into a Sears for the first time since being dragged around with my parents looking for appliances.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972838)
Posted by kirbenvost on August 13th, 2009 @ 10:16am CDT

Interesting. Canada's Sears stores have had toy sections for as long as I can remember, although they just did a major downsizing, and then broguth it back again.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972852)
Posted by Mirage22 on August 13th, 2009 @ 10:49am CDT

My Sears already has a toy section, it's not hude, but a good size. 'Cept, they have always been weird about what they have in stock. I can literally still find Classics anytime I want there. It's great

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972863)
Posted by Valandar on August 13th, 2009 @ 11:28am CDT

Eeeeenteresting...

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972870)
Posted by Vegitron on August 13th, 2009 @ 11:58am CDT

Sears being the same company as K-Mart does not bring me hope for a well stocked, clean, and fairly priced selection of TFs. But I'll stop by and look.

Sears Holdings, formed in 2005 when hedge fund manager Edward Lampert merged Sears and Kmart, has struggled to sell its mainstay Craftsman tools and Kenmore appliances amid a housing market crash.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972875)
Posted by Powersa on August 13th, 2009 @ 12:11pm CDT

nice I have a Sears credit card with cash back.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (972876)
Posted by nemesis-prime on August 13th, 2009 @ 12:17pm CDT

How are they gonna compete when there toys are the same price as Kmart?

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (973032)
Posted by Jetstorm92210 on August 13th, 2009 @ 4:43pm CDT

This is appropiate, considering they are the ones who invented the term Seeker, if it wasn't for them, we would call them Decepticon planes or something weird.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (973041)
Posted by Cyber Bishop on August 13th, 2009 @ 4:53pm CDT

vaporretarder wrote:yep, i work as a hardware salesman at sears,...and I'm gonna be that guy walking over after work and hiding the figures I want until they sit there long enough to go from 50 bucks down to 5 bucks heh.

BANNED!!!!!!

JK :wink:

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (973080)
Posted by ServO on August 13th, 2009 @ 6:18pm CDT

They're probably just expanding thier toy departments to absorb the extra inventory generated from all the K-Marts that have been closing down. If you ever want to pick up an animated Lugnut for $31.99 or maybe an animated Oil Slick for $17.99, then K-Mart/Sears is the way to go. The K-Mart down the street from me is in it's final days of closing, and everything in the toy department is 30% off...it's STILL more expensive than the Target across the street...I mean jeeze they're still selling Real Gear bots from the first movie, and they want 10 bucks for em...not thanks.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (973132)
Posted by Cobalt Prime on August 13th, 2009 @ 8:13pm CDT

Cyber Bishop wrote:I am going to show my age here..

I remember buying original Battlestar Galactica merchandise in the late 70's from Sears..

And I was right there buying my Micronauts and Sears exclusive Star Wars playsets! :lol:

Nowadays as an old guy I am a 17 year veteran of Sears selling appliances. My store has been off and on over the years since the original toy department went kaput back in the day. Mostly Christmas now. However, around June 15th, I noticed that they had a few cases of ROTF toys in the back room. Not that big a deal, since I had already found them all at Y'all-Mart and Target much prior to that. But as time went on, I noticed that they continued to sit there in the stock room. And sit there. And sit there. #-o

Finally, I had to actually go to the MCA of the childrens department and say " Ya know, there are only TWO days til ROTF hits theaters, and you guys still have all the toys in the back. You are going to have that stuff laying around forever if you don't get it out now, cause its all been out at other stores for a while already."
She thanked me and had the stuff out by the end of the day, and a good portion of it has sold, despite the deluxes running $14.99, and Voyagers running around $26.00. Still a few V and L class left.

SentaiPRFan wrote:Damn just Transformers and Leapfrog crap where's the love for Power Rangers and other action figures of the like?

Well said! :APPLAUSE:

Over the years I managed to pick up a plethora of my Ranger stuff at a good discount back when Sears and Kay Bee were in cahoots for Christmas. Clearance and associate discount equals happy wallet! Hopefully, Bandai will manage to squeeze into the mix again this time around. :-?

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (973291)
Posted by SnapTrap on August 14th, 2009 @ 12:35am CDT

Cyber Bishop wrote:I am going to show my age here..

I remember buying original Battlestar Galactica merchandise in the late 70's from Sears.. Around 84 I remember picking up Gi Joes, Transformers, Atari 2600 and Cloecovision games from Sears.

Don't worry, when I was seven or eight (1978) I remember going to Sears and buying the Millennium Falcon and getting a bunch of Star Wars figures (at different times; didn't get any when I bought the MF). Also picked up some Micronauts there too.

So this is good news; hopefully the prices will be competitive with Target/Walmart/etc.

Re: Transformers...coming to a Sears near you? (973297)
Posted by tom brokaw on August 14th, 2009 @ 12:41am CDT