This week I took a trip to my local Tesco Extra superstore, which has seen its toy department transformed into a mini The Entertainer aisle dubbed ‘The Entertainer Toy Collection’. The main change appears to be branded shelving and special signage. But as I merrily skipped through ‘The Entertainer Toy Collection’ in Tesco toy department I was shocked to find there wasn’t a LEGO set in sight. It appears this is the case in all Tesco stores which have been rebranded to ‘The Entertainer Toy Collection’ aisles. Why one of the UK’s biggest toy retailers and supermarket chains has decided to remove LEGO products from Tesco stores is unclear. The Entertainer has a history of odd decisions, they do not open on Sundays and won’t stock products they deem ‘unsuitable’ in the case of LEGO sets that’s stuff like Harry Potter. This is due to the owner’s strong religious beliefs. Before linking up with Tesco, The Entertainer piloted a similar scheme in Asda stores. Thankfully, it wasn’t taken further and now many Asda stores feature special LEGO sections within their toy departments including LEGO Big Build models. There is a slight upside to the removal of LEGO products from Tesco’s toy aisles, which means you may find a small selection of LEGO sets reduced to clear but you will have to look elsewhere in the store. For those outside the UK, Tesco is similar to Walmart or Woolworths.
