lovetoshopCA

must have been a LOT of toys in the backroom at one of my stores. TONS on the endcaps. Nothing I really want to buy, mind you, but lots of duplicates.

bit more than that here, but still, just the start. I expect more next week.

They will not

SHOPS are clearancing

The Legos were from 2010, so probably a random item found in the backroom. If I had to guess, same with the Tide. They will often put a regular sticker on it if it is something they can find in the system still. Yes, I think toy clearance is going to be a bit of a dud this year. It was already moving there last year and even in January. Not nearly as much left, and too much of particular items (remember the endcaps of zhu zhu pets?).

Yep. I agree. I actually said the same thing a while back. It is hard to say how many people went regularly to check for clearance and spent a lot more money on other items. I think it has been a foolish way to go. But they aren't likely to go back.

Saw more stores dropped patio & garden stuff today. A lot of activity in the grocery area too.

It is usually the end of July / beginning of August. I am usually sweating it because I go to Comic Con, which is normally the 3rd week of July, but is earlier this year. It has been after Comic Con the last 3 years, though, so that would be about the last week of July.

It is a real change, and probably permanent. They had too much clearance before and it was killing them financially. They changed to a Just In Time ordering system which keeps their inventory from getting too big at any of the stores. This saves them a lot of money on warehousing and is supposed to minimize the need for clearance. It has had the unfortunate effect of also causing more outages of product than I remember them ever having in the past. It also means that they tend to clearance a LOT less and what they do clearance tends to be lots of a few items that just didn't sell well. Not sure how much it has really helped them financially as their overall numbers are still down.

My guess would be the middle of June to the end of June. About the time they get ready to transition to back to school. Didn't see anything I was interested in. Too bad.

Found Patio furniture & cushions on clearance at the Montclair, CA store today. This is the only store I have seen them down so far, but if they are ahead, probably the rest will go this week or next. Found some nice 12" GI Joe figures earlier this week for 70% off. The markdown team told me that they have had so little to mark lately that they are going home early everyday.

No, not really. They do run some discounts, but the sales are no where near as good.

they do. can't recall timing.

I don't think they'll clearance them. I think Amazon will take them back. But that's just my guess. I have been in one store with the big new Apple display, what a waste of space, and they removed the Sony & Amazon products entirely (not even in the book section). The Sony ereaders are clearance at all our other stores, but not the Nook.

My 9 year old wants one.

Yep. Unfortunately, they seem to have gotten a better handle on the whole Just In Time ordering thing, so they don't have so much clearance. On the other hand, it seems like they have a lot more Out of Stock merchandise than they used to, and without all of us in the store every day checking for clearance, their overall sales are down, causing their financials to be less great this year. Have to wonder if they would do better under the old system.... ;-)

LOL! Sadly there WILL probably be enough people who don't to make it worth their while.

So, Target's new try at branding involves these little "shops" in various departments. The first one I saw was the Candy Shoppe. I had to laugh, though, they have a small jar full of Bit O Honey for $4.99. The same Bit O Honey that comes in bags for $1 in the Dollar Spot. And $4.99 for a jar of gumballs that cost $2 in the candy aisle in a bag. Those are some pretty pricey plastic jars!!

Yeah. I'd be shocked if there were any left past 30%, and probably few past 15%. They are popular in the first place, and there is no other way to get a discount on them.

They were. I saw them only after buying the 6 pack, of course... Easter salvaged at most of our stores too, but if you find stragglers, they are still ringing up. So, they have salvaged in that they pulled everything obvious, but I still found a few odds and ends, including the Mario toys, and they ring up at the sale price.

Why oh why do they always order so many Reeses eggs? Every year they have a ton left. The individual ones are currently ringing up $.07....

I didn't think to check, but these had been stocked at the checklanes. I used them as birthday favors last year.

It happened several months ago and probably because they can. They are getting more from salvage companies than they used to because there is less available (thanks to Just In Time merchandising) and more demand from discount stores like Marshalls, TJ Maxx & Big Lots.

Doh! That explains why my other little packs of moshi monsters & power rangers disappeared, I put them in the Super Mario boxes. And I just walked right past 2 boxes of Mario stuff at another store because I didn't think they were in the sale! Most of the other small packs have been marked back up to full price. Thanks to whoever had the huge stash of candy at the Duarte Target! I got lots of great chocolate and Jelly Belly jelly beans today!

Stopped by today. Almost nothing left to pickup Monday after Easter. boo....