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| A "Golden week Toys Fun" promotion at a Toys "R" Us in Zhuhai, China |
Whether in Mudanjiang far to the north or in Zhongshan far to the south, during recent years I have shared some of the National Day sales I have come across in China. Recently in Zhuhai, a city bordering Zhongshan on China's southeastern coast, I saw a promotion that might strike some people as more notable than others because of the retailer and products involved.
The promotion was at Toys "R" Us. Although the U.S. based company no longer has stores in its home country, stores still exist elsewhere, including China. Asia in particular has been a bright spot, and the company hopes to sell its stores there, though there are complications at the moment.
So I wasn't very surprised to see a Toys "R" Us promotion for National Day at two different stores in Zhuhai. And I wasn't surprised the "Golden Week" holiday sale lasts for over a month. And I also wasn't surprised by the "I ♥ China" roller coaster on some of the signs.
But I will admit, they did do something I didn't see coming. They commemorated the founding of the People's Republic of China by featuring a special price for a Nerf toy guns combo — the N-Strike Elite Retaliator and the Microshots N-Strike Elite Firestrike.
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| Save 49.9 yuan! (about U.S. $7.25) |
Retaliate against who? The signs didn't specifically say.
In any case, the special on Nerf guns reminded me of my old posts about children in China conducting "war training exercises". Now, to commemorate the founding of the People's Republic of China they can do it at a discount.
Very interesting that the Chinese would use this day to have big sales. I guess their moves to a capitalistic society are stronger than I thought.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I remembered hearing stories about Toys "R" Us stores in the Philippines having lots of bootleg toys. Have you ever noticed similar stuff at the stores in China, or is it just isolated to the Philippines?
I have memories of seeing some intriguing brands at Toys "R" Us in Shanghai years ago. Most recently, I haven't noticed anything particularly striking, though I'm not up to date on the latest toy brands.
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