To answer your question about Cabbage Patch: no. We knew they would be popular, but had no idea about the future chaos. TRU store associates developed a bottom-up manual process that kept our stores peaceful while other stores had fistfights.
1. Signup name and phone in a wirebound notebook.
2. When your name came up, you had two calls and a week to get to the store.
3. Pay for a doll with a barcoded ticket at the register,
4. Go around to the back room where all the dolls were displayed in a cubby.
5. Child selects from available dolls.
The beauty was that it came from the workers and later served as the basis for automated systems like Layaway.
Thanks for sharing that. I was really curious about how it was handled. As a former retail worked who spent a lot of time around the holidays trying to deal with customer demand for rarer products, I always liked out in-store solution more than what was passed down from corporate.
Great blast from the past! While I don’t recall this specific flyer, a ton of those items are definitely fond memories of childhood. Thanks for the wonderful stroll down Memory Lane.
It was G.I. JOE for me, a bunch of figures to bolster the originals, I got a Stinger Jeep, Dragonfly, WHALE hovercraft, Water Moccasin, (was that this year or 84?) My best friends (twins) got the headquarters! Lots of EPIC battles fought, and memories forged there!
Vic-20 Solidarity, man! That was my first computer as well. It’s amazing how much those little machines could do. Now, the average note on an iPhone uses as much or more memory than that entire system did back then.
I am sharing your post in my weekly newsletter. https://fridaynews.substack.com/
To answer your question about Cabbage Patch: no. We knew they would be popular, but had no idea about the future chaos. TRU store associates developed a bottom-up manual process that kept our stores peaceful while other stores had fistfights.
1. Signup name and phone in a wirebound notebook.
2. When your name came up, you had two calls and a week to get to the store.
3. Pay for a doll with a barcoded ticket at the register,
4. Go around to the back room where all the dolls were displayed in a cubby.
5. Child selects from available dolls.
The beauty was that it came from the workers and later served as the basis for automated systems like Layaway.
Thanks for sharing that. I was really curious about how it was handled. As a former retail worked who spent a lot of time around the holidays trying to deal with customer demand for rarer products, I always liked out in-store solution more than what was passed down from corporate.
Dark Tower! I sometimes wonder (wistfully) when we got rid of it.
I was already in college, but my mother loved to shop and went all over the place to get Cabbage Patch Dolls for me and my older sister.
Great blast from the past! While I don’t recall this specific flyer, a ton of those items are definitely fond memories of childhood. Thanks for the wonderful stroll down Memory Lane.
That brings back some happy memories
It was G.I. JOE for me, a bunch of figures to bolster the originals, I got a Stinger Jeep, Dragonfly, WHALE hovercraft, Water Moccasin, (was that this year or 84?) My best friends (twins) got the headquarters! Lots of EPIC battles fought, and memories forged there!
Vic-20 Solidarity, man! That was my first computer as well. It’s amazing how much those little machines could do. Now, the average note on an iPhone uses as much or more memory than that entire system did back then.
Yep, Vic 20, Pac Man Tabletop, D&D books, and my sis had the Cabbage Patch kit. Thank you, great trip down memory lane.