Are there any Test Stores in the UK"?

momma wrote:When we found the Camo Bear out early in a store, I can't remember why but we had to go into the back area for something (maybe a booboo or potty emergency while their public ones were busy, I forget) and I got to chat with one of the employees about the subject of test bears. She said that they never know when they'll get picked as a test market but pretty much any location is eligible to become one.

Based on my own background in studying marketing, retailing, statistics, and more, plus personal observation...

Big, flagship stores will get special items to sell, like the New York City store with their own unique condos, unique birth certificates, and selling items that are normally online only (like international passport outfits) or ballpark (like the NY sports team furry friends) or special lines (like the dinos)... But in order to have real feedback data on new furry friends, statistically speaking, you want to have them pop up all over in a variety of locations... small towns, cities, various regions of the country, poorer and richer communities, where there are many military or farming families and where there are none, etc... That gives a company a feel for whether their product will work all over or if it will work best in a more limited market, or even if it will fail. Then companies take that data along with other research and decide how many of the item to produce and where to sell it.

Having a particular store branded as a test market location can be fun for the people who get to shop there, but it doesn't really give the company the same useful information that semi-random locations can give them. Instead, keep your eyes open for these special pets and if you are an adult that is comfortable saying where you shopped, let us know... if you are a kid, always seek permission from your parents before sharing and if you all determine that you should not publicly talk about where you were, then consider PMing one of the administrators here with the location and ask not to have your id credited with giving the info (you may choose instead to have your first name only get credit, if your parents approve and communicate this to the admins, but again, this is an iffy thing since you are still sharing part of your identity and location).