Target announced it will be canceling its annual toy sales. The change is just one of many that are coming to the struggling retailer. Parents are not happy.
“We’ll be starting by exiting toy sales. Pets will go. Luggage will go. We want to increase the volume on apparel and soft home”, new boss Guy Russo said to News.com.au.
Many parents have expressed frustration at Target cancelling lay-by payments for its “Greatest Toy Sale On Earth”. “We’re urging all our customers that would like to lay-by products in July to go to Big W,” Mr Russo said.
According to him, Target will not be selling products that do not make money. It is strange that toys and stuffed animals seem to be falling into that category for the retailer. The toy industry has been on a roll for a while now. It netted a healthy rise of more than 10% in the UK alone for last year.
Strange decision
Yes, so far Target is stopping just the annual toy sales. Toys will still be on the shelves in the stores for the time being. But exactly annual toy sales are the biggest volume shifters. So stopping them seems counterproductive.
Target though seems confident in its success. Still, parents are not happy. To try and please them, the company is preparing a “toy event” in July, but there still won’t be lay-by and the event “will be different”. Not much is known about it. Target promises there will be at least 550 toys on offer with more than 140 exclusive toys and a price match guarantee. Parents are vowing to go shop elsewhere if they don’t get their beloved toy sale. It will be interesting to see what will happen, but for now the classic Target annual toy sales are no more.
