What is an official Lego shop like?

kishidan69 · 2013-08-08T06:15:54.000Z

Hello all, Lego fan from Australia, unfortunately we don't have no bricks and mortar official Lego shops over here, I've never been to one (will definitely do so one day), so all I can do is to watch videos on youtube or read the forums on how its like in one of those official shops. Have got a few questions for those who are familiar with the shops: 1. The brick wall offerings - are the types of bricks and pieces available at each different shop completely random? As in you never know what you're going to get until you visit a particular shop, and do they change their 'stock' regularly - pink flowers available today, who knows - maybe yellow flowers available next week, maybe no flowers at all the week after? 2. Theft and shoplifting - I assume that it is impossible for Lego to security tag every loose brick and piece in the shop. And some of the videos I've seen show busy shops that are full of kids and adults, and I doubt staff have the ability to police every section of the shop at all times. Is 'casual' shoplifting (eg. people just concealing a few bricks or minifig parts in the closed hands or pockets for cheap thrills or due to momentary greed or for whatever reason, young kids who innocently taking a few without understanding the need to pay, nothing blatantly excessive) quite common? 3. If I have read / understand correctly, you grab whatever bricks you want from the brick wall, fill up a fixed size box or tub, and you pay a flat price for this? Any comments would be greatly appreciated, thanks!