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Still loads and loads of the 75% off Graco strollers at the Pasadena - Lake store. They are back where they had the Christmas stuff instead of with the baby stuff. An entire aisle. At least one double stroller.

No, but they had those cute Classic Pooh diaper bags on sale. If you could find one of those, you could use it instead.

thanks brad. perhaps I am simply getting senile or crazy....

did we lose some posts? I thought we went to page 4 this morning, but when I came back it was back down to 3. Did something happen? Yes, the Graco stuff was all 75% off at the Duarte store too. Sorry, no DPCIs. Did not see much else.

They probably just didn't go yet at your store. I have been to a couple of stores that had items still at the lower % off when most had them all the way to 75%. One of the markdown team members told me that 75% of their items went all the way down Thursday, but the remainder was still at the lower %. It generally depends on how well they are selling. I was able to get Vsmile cartridges at one of our stores 2 weeks ago for $4.98 each, but of the other 7 stores I hit, they are all still at 30%-50%. It was driving me crazy the other day!

For those of you who haven't heard my rant, it REALLY helps when people add their location info to their profile so we don't have to clutter up the discussion asking. Not that either of you did anything wrong. It just helps to be able to take a quick look and see where people are. You can add your location by using the Control Panel (upper left on the blue bar) and editing your profile. Takes only a minute or two.

Yup. have to agree. the main thing is that everyone have an equal chance to get them. These employees were walking out from the toy department before we even got back there, and we were the first people in the door, so we didn't have a chance. And they cleaned the shelf of them with 2 apiece. Definitely not good. it is a sticky situation, and there should be perks for employees, but it really gives the store a black eye, so if they are going to allow it, it should not be so visible.

There is never an excuse for that behavior, though. I'd complain either to the store manager or the corp number with the person's name. better the corp as it is less confrontational. still, if they say no politely, that is one thing. If they tear your head off it is another. At one store, they usually just say that you'll have to wait until we are done with everything in the department, then we'll go through your stuff for you. They have a standard policy and stick to it. I can live with that a lot easier than the other attitude.

yeah, now that really is unfair, and worth a call to complain to corporate as far as I am concerned. This happened at Christmas a couple of years ago when employees were buying the TMX Elmos. They told us that can get fired for it, and when they saw we were upset, they brought one back to us.

she said she was going to clock in, so maybe she was on a break....that said, it is true that they aren't allowed to shop on the clock. but every store deals with it differently. Obviously they shouldn't take from customer's carts, but people are people, and employees aren't any better or worse than the rest. I never let my cart leave my sight during clearance, for that very reason. Stinks, but what can you do?

If you guys get one and decide to help each other, just be sure to discuss it by PM. Brad gets all upset when people start doing this, and then he ends up scolding us and deleting a bunch of posts....Just a heads up.

I hit 8 stores today! While I did not do nearly as well as I have the last couple of years, I did find some great deals on Legos & Erector sets. I also got a few other choice items, but those were my best finds. I was shocked to go into one store and find all the Spongebob Legos marked down and sitting on the shelf!! They had the whole line marked down, and I had only see the Boating School sets marked at other stores. Loads of fun! For those in the area, Chino Hills/Diamond Bar is not marking down till tomorrow, so you still can get there. I did clean them out of Erector sets, though, the nice lady on the markdown team scanned them for me. :-)

Is anyone on the list out in the Diamond Bar/Chino Hills, LaVerne or San Dimas areas? Or alternatively, Burbank/North Hollywood? I was wondering if there was any toy clearance left out your ways? Pasadena has almost nothing left, and I need to pick a direction to go in. I have, historically, found the San Dimas to Diamond Bar areas have a lot more left over, but La Verne is always a day or two behind. Anyway, any input is welcome! I have been so busy with vacation then moving that I haven't had time to do any good hiding like usual!

They don't mark down the same items at all stores. Smaller stores tend to mark down items during this period that larger stores don't. Because there is less space available for the smaller store's toy departments, they clear out some items before Christmas to make room for items they think will sell better. Most of our stores are pretty light on stuff left as well. However, because they are in the middle of resetting, they may have more in the back, so it is worth checking back for a few days after the big mark down. Sometimes stuff will come out unmarked, too.

Yup, that is what I am getting from my markdown team ladies as well. They were supposed to do it today but they are behind and everyone is planning for tomorrow (except the Lake store here locally, they seem to be 2-3 days behind). One gal I spoke to manages the team, and they have been cutting hours but leaving the same amount of stuff to be marked down, so they are having trouble keeping up.

Yup, some stores are continually behind so they do it Thursday all the time. Just depends on the store.

That is 75% off on the Lego set, so maybe that is what they are doing.

I have seen them do that to prep the area for a new set of products, but it almost always ends up back on the shelves or on endcaps. Sometimes they actually just sell out of stuff, particularly at busy stores.

usually 3-4 weeks or so, but it mostly depends on how much they need the space for the next round of items. Some items never go down, they just move them into the regular aisles and mix them in.

baby stuff is just baby stuff. generally done on mondays. unless they are baby toys in the toy department, then they are considered toys. Ahh...I see the problem, they didn't include it in the first post. It is done at the same time as kids clothes.

they get the information in the PDA during the overnight. However, until they scan the UPC for the items being marked down, it does not activate the price change. In fact, if you have an item hidden, and it isn't on the sales floor, sometimes it gets missed entirely and doesn't go down (though most stores will hit the UPC codes on a printed sheet if they can't find it). Anyway, it really depends on the store and where they are in their markdowns. Most of ours do these first thing, but I have seen it done in the early afternoon. I'd be there when they open to be safe because the toys go quickly once they are marked down. If they are not marked, though, you might see if you can find where they are working and ask if they are doing toys that day (if they seem nice, sometimes they'll lie to you). If they don't do them Wednesday, you might check Thursday as well. Just depends on your store. I have one store I expect to go down tomorrow, another Thursday, and another Friday. We'll see what happens.

Yeah, it really is the case that the employees don't know when they'll go down. The markdown team is told via their PDA which items go down on a daily basis. The day ahead they know which departments, but I have talked to several, and they are often surprised when something doesn't go down as they expect it to or something else goes faster. As for the people on the phone, they are simply full of it. When I want to know if the department has had a markdown, I ask for someone in the department, then ask if they did the markdown. Works better, and keeps the front end from knowing if they did get marked down.

found a few odds & ends 75% off in toys - small transformers & Ben 10 voice changers. They were marking down stuff in baby section, but didn't really look. For those in the area, the Pasadena Lake store has a TON of strollers (including DuoGlide) in the area where the garden stuff was (far back corner by school supplies now). 2 whole aisles have been stocked with clearance strollers. looked like 30-50%

the same thing happens every summer. they do not expedite the toy clearance in summer. it will most likely go 75% next week. it was the 1st week of August the last 3 years in a row, with a 1 or 2 store exception.

Was in a huge rush (moving tomorrow), but the stuff inside was all 75% off. I also found a few clearance toys at the Madre store that were 75% off. Odds and ends, but worth a look.