The discounters, especially Wal-Mart, have realized it is to their advantage to be very aggressive in the fourth quarter... It makes life harder. The other issue, of course, is it's convenient. Since most Americans are already in Wal-Mart or Target on a regular basis, making a purchase of toys there is easier than getting back in the car and making a special trip to Toys 'R' Us, and Toys 'R' Us has had a problem with that. If you're going to be a specialty store, you've got to give people a reason to make the trip.
Ursula Moran