LEGO Brand Stores close following COVID-19

I'm in my apartment making myself comfortable. No worries. Just came back from the grocery store and everything seemed fine there. Bought a set in order to spend this free time. :)

@backtobricks
all the best

Was hoping to get 2x point and steam engine gift set on Friday from my local Lego shop. Better this way for the staff. Another time then or may be forced to use the Lego website instead.

Lots to build at home in any cases.
Best to all of you.

Just started the work from home schedule today (off hours to save VPN traffic), and the kids are home for at least the next 2 weeks (likely a good deal longer). So yes, will have a lot of time to build. Luckily just bought the Roller Coaster with the help of accumulated reward points, so that's going to get a lot of playtime.

Be safe and smart everyone.

I am in isolation at the moment. The dutch government announced rules and guidelines last week, and since i have a sore throat since mid-last week, the advice is to stay at home and away from people, so after a short check with my boss i reported in sick.
There's no fever, not even a small rise, just the throat, but it's a symptom so i'm supposed to avoid contact.
The HR lady called me today, was wondering how i was doing. Told her no change, she assured me i was doing the right thing, even though it may feel weird to be "sick" while i feel perfectly capable of doing my job.

I'd love to get to play with my SPIKE Prime set but work keeps me busy :(
we are really lucky to have this hobby.
stay safe everyone!

Saying a prayer for the health and safety of everyone, including all LEGO fans and employees as well. We're fortunate that my wonderful mom lives nearby and has been able to watch our 10 y/o, who has been out of school this week (until at least 27th). She'll have to pull double duty also watching our 4 y/o when/if daycare closes (upon confirmed first local case). I work in senior housing so trying to keep my resident's safe, they're almost all over 60 w/many in their 80's and 90's. My wife works at a local hospital so she's stuck there no matter how bad it gets. We're both taking all the precautions we can to prevent bringing the bug home. My LEGO buying days are over for a while, as if the bldg. is closed/quarantined (upon first confirmed case) I'll be home w/o pay. I'll just have to make do w/what I've got, which tbh is a ridiculous amount anyway. Maybe I'll get some time to work on MOC's again, which I honestly suck at lol. If it becomes an extended shut in situation maybe I'll even get around to cleaning up our basement, working on a LEGO storage solution, and finally getting my city perfected. Then again that would take (I'm highly prone to procrastinating) months, and I really hope we're not holed up that long! God bless everyone, take care of each other, stay clean and safe!

I have LEGO money burning a hole in my pocket but I’ve been holding out for2x VIP Points. Does anybody know when the next 2x is?

@yellost said:
"That's good for the safety of the LEGO Store employees but I was also wondering how it was for the production facilities. Are they running business as usual ? remote work ? factories shutdown ?
Considering they don't seem to have modified any scheduled release, it doesn't look that way. I hope they take the proper measures, though. I love my hobby but I don't want it to be at the expense of someone else's health."

I read somewhere that the parts factory only requires two people to run. No worries there.

@PurpleDave
That's... disturbing, if not disgusting, but it makes sense, unfortunately. Thanks for the explanation!

We are very lucky that everyone in our family can telework, and I've been working from home for three weeks. Schools closing makes it a bit more challenging but we're all adapting. Creativity to build new things is tough right now but I've been pulling out old instructions to rebuild favorite sets!

@IowaHawkeye13 said:
"I have LEGO money burning a hole in my pocket but I’ve been holding out for2x VIP Points. Does anybody know when the next 2x is?"

rumor is March 20th but who knows now.

Still working hard every day, but I have a couple of sets on hold, and the bookstore coming tomorrow in case I get stuck at home. There’s always plenty of spare pieces that need sorting and separating

Need to be at work, need to pay my bills cant really be at home... but im still doing lots of lego when i have time!

Been in self quarantine for a few days now, don’t have any symptoms but I have a newborn brother do my family is being super cautious right now.

@backtobricks
Please change on your profile so you can be contacted. Or contact me if you want.

@oldfan said:
"I won't have much time for Lego during the week even though I'm home, since I'll be working from home for the duration (and with two little kids home from school and daycare, I'll be struggling to be productive as it is). However, I did just finish up my new basement storage area and I'm almost done reorganizing everything; if I do get any free time that's what I'll be working on. Then I can finally start on all those MOC's I've been dreaming about..."

A City by chance? I have been playing Monster Hunter World Iceborne and grinding what I can. I will also do a lot of LEGO building myself.

I'm a lucky guy who works from home office once a week, so nothing new to me.
The only problem we have in my business is the number of VPN connections around the world.
My daughter will also start studying tomorrow from a distance.
She received the instruction by mail today.
But she cannot continue her apprenticeship in a cattery.

And I can invest the 2 hours I normally spend travelling to build sets.
Last week, I built the Fiat 500 that I ordered on March 1, then I rebuilt the VW Beetle, the Ferrari F40 and the Mini.

@Veyniac said:
" @yellost said:
"That's good for the safety of the LEGO Store employees but I was also wondering how it was for the production facilities. Are they running business as usual ? remote work ? factories shutdown ?
Considering they don't seem to have modified any scheduled release, it doesn't look that way. I hope they take the proper measures, though. I love my hobby but I don't want it to be at the expense of someone else's health."

I read somewhere that the parts factory only requires two people to run. No worries there."

It's a bit more than 2, but yes, Lego factories are highly automated. There's some good pictures of the moulding machines here: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2014/aug/29/inside-the-lego-factory-in-billund-denmark-in-pictures

Notice how there's only 1 picture with a person in that gallery - operators only go in the hall with the moulding machines if they are notified there's a problem/do quality checks. From my visit to the factory I recall it's 1 person supervising 8 machines?
Buckets with newly moulded parts are automatically moved by robots to a warehouse, where the lights are off as putting parts on the right spot/taking them out is also 100% done by robots.

I'm an extreme introvert so the quarantine hasn't effected my home life at all. Work is a different story; we're getting like three times the traffic we usually do and have completely sold out of milk and toilet paper.

I really wish there was LEGO store closer to where I live, closed or not.

@Chouju_X_SPAM_- good song, just can't go much further without getting really explicit really fast

Guess it's time to start work on custom modulars since I don't have the money to buy one. On that note, if you know where I could get one cheaply, let me know!

Well suppose this will give me the time to get round to sorting the lego I still have from childhood, I've been planning to empty the big box out and see which sets I can rebuild, but kept putting it off till "later" :)

@stlux said:

It's a bit more than 2, but yes, Lego factories are highly automated. There's some good pictures of the moulding machines here: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/gallery/2014/aug/29/inside-the-lego-factory-in-billund-denmark-in-pictures

Notice how there's only 1 picture with a person in that gallery - operators only go in the hall with the moulding machines if they are notified there's a problem/do quality checks. From my visit to the factory I recall it's 1 person supervising 8 machines?
Buckets with newly moulded parts are automatically moved by robots to a warehouse, where the lights are off as putting parts on the right spot/taking them out is also 100% done by robots. "

Wow, that is both awesome and crazy. I knew they were highly automated but not to that level. XD
But there are still all the designers. I wonder how doable it would for them to work from home. When I see all those sketch models during design interviews, they definitely need access to lots of parts...

I already work from home (computer programming/support), so work has not really changed. But AccessHealthCT claims that somebody requested cancelling my health insurance in mid-February and for over a week I've been trying to get it resolved, with no apparent progress. That they cannot tell me who requested the cancellation is scary, but not as scary as having no insurance.

j'habite le centre est de la France et nous avons la chance d'avoir beau temps et doux, mais si il vient a faire mauvais, peut être que je ressortirai toute la collection dans la maison histoire de m'amusé avec mon petit

A little bit of late news, but anyway, it's good that LEGO is taking precautions for there employees and customers. Can't wait to start working on my 19K ISD MOC next week :D

Good on TLG for taking care of their employees! I am in Los Angeles and work for a broadcast television network...there's a lot going on in the TV landscape (canceled events, rescheduling, dwindling amounts of original content to air with production shut down), so even though I am working from home there's too much to do workwise to do any extra building. I am staring at my unfinished YODA 75255 over there on my coffee table, and it's silently mocking me. I hope to be able to build more, soon. I hope everyone, everywhere stays safe, sane and healthy! My husband and two teen daughters are locked up here with me, of course...a pity they won't build with me! Be well.

@Bart_66 said:
"I build an old set on Sunday, set 8386 Ferrari racer.
I see in some of the comments what people do for a living.
I have been wondering about that, what kind of jobs AFOL's have.
Maybe an idea for a topic sometime.
"

That's actually great idea!

Today was the first day of total lock down in Jordan. No leaving the house except for groceries and other essentials. I haven't done anything with my Lego for a bit, but I guess that's going to change.

The only sensible choice. It'll give them a chance to really deep clean too. Considering how many hands, many of them little, go through the pick a brick and build a figure bins the choice has to be to limit exposure.

Need to take public transport to work. Self isolating ain't possible for some of us :/

So what? Asian market LEGO brand stores stay open? I don't get it.

This isn't hugely surprising to me; the only things I can name that are still open near my area are a Cinemark (which is going to get closed for "cleanup" in a few days so I guess it doesn't count) and maybe a few stores like Costco.

To keep busy it is time for my children’s old sets from the early 90 to be sorted by colours and shapes and then rebuilt.It should keep us occupied for awhile.Good health to all.

I'm f*****, my partner lost her job due this Corona thing, now we don't know even how to go through and bay the bills for the next month... :(
Maybe I would have to sell some of my collection...

RIP Craig Ruston now the youngest victim to covid-19, in his 40s was clearly a fan of Lego, judging by the images shown of him next to his Lego models.
BBC News - Coronavirus: Craig Ruston 'youngest UK death'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-northamptonshire-51941732

Keep your cool, Samie. Things are pretty bad all around, everyone please stay home and - why not - take your favourite Lego out and build away.

But let's not underestimate all this: stay home and stay safe.

Most everything is closed where I live. We had a sizeable earthquake today so that shook things up a bit! Otherwise, I'm keeping busy designing MOCs - currently an SBD Dauntless from the battle of Midway. LEGO is such a great stress reliever.

I'm really starting to panic. Me and my partner are both foreigners here in Japan, we have no family to ask for help and since in Japan same-sex marriage still not legal, we are not eligible to apply for the same welfare programs that the government offers to straight couples. If we were legally married, it would be a whole different story. Unless I find a way to make around extra 500~1000 bucks by the beginning of April, we are fucked... :(

@Robot99:
Yeah, so I've been wondering if two articles I've seen are connected. One (which I didn't read) is about a Chinese national who was living in the US, got sick, had all the symptoms, tried to get tested a few times (and was always denied due to shortages of test kits, & the restrictions they've put on who gets tested), and eventually flew back to China where she finally got tested and did indeed have it. Then the other article, which I did read, was about a Chinese woman (possibly the same one) who flew back to China, tested positive for the virus, and had her "social credit score" docked for failing to report the infection. The "social credit score" is much like an actual credit score, but it's a way to reward state-approved behavior and punish banned behavior. Do stuff that they like, and they raise your score. Tick them off, and they lower it. If it goes low enough, you can be blacklisted. So, if that's actually the same woman, imagine not being allowed to get tested in one nation, flying back to your home nation, and immediately being punished for basically being denied testing.

So, regardless, that "social credit score" is looming over the heads of every Chinese citizen, and shutting down a store to prevent the spread of a disease that has given them a massive black eye isn't going to win you many points.

@yellost:
They do a lot of CAD work getting from physical model to instruction books, so I imagine they can do a lot of that on computer if they really need to.

@paulmison:
They may have eventually started locking down the spread within their own country, but they did so in part by shoveling infected people out the door to other parts of the world. They had a chance to keep it almost entirely contained to one province. Instead, they Chernobyled it.

@Rimefang:
Honestly, I wouldn't be shocked if all those parts got scrapped. Any parts they pick up off the floor get disposed of, so I don't see them putting much effort into sanitizing all the parts in those bins. Any PAB/BAM stock they have in the back storage would still be good to go, but trying to actually clean parts is going to be more work than the parts are worth. Then again, they may have just set them aside, with plans to put them right back out the way they are. The virus has only been reported as being able to survive for about half a day on surfaces, so two weeks should be enough that anything on the parts should be doing a great parrot impression.

@James_Arkham:
There's a guy in Rome who was recorded walking around wearing a 12' cardboard donut like a giant hoop skirt, with one of those grabber devices so he could reach things beyond the edge of the cardboard. You just have to be a little creative about how you enforce social distancing!

I'm from Prince Edward Island in Atlantic Canada. On Friday my work closed for 3 weeks and our Chief Health Officer told all Islanders to self isolate, practice social distancing and walk outside for exercise. At today's noon briefing, she ordered all Island businesses except essential services closed immediately and gave 24 hr notice on closure of liquor and cannabis stores (gov't run). On the 6 pm news, video of long lines of Islanders outside liquor stores was shown and Dr. Morrison expressed disappointment in Islanders. I wonder what she will say at tomorrow's briefing? (Yesterday she said that we stand together by staying apart.) She is working hard on our behalf. On the Island, we are in pretty good shape right now. Altho I did just add new shelves to the Lego room 2 weeks ago, I am not feeling the Lego vibe now:/ There are a lot of sick people in our world today.

@bty8 said:
" @Robot99 said:
"So, uh, why are Chinese stores staying open?

I hope you guys are all staying safe!"

That's because we already have gone through the worst stage of the virus. The virus isn't gone but absolutely controled and some workplaces are operational again. "

Hmm, that certainly gives me hope that the U.S. will return to normal soon as well (which is what I was predicting anyways). Thanks for the info, and I hope you guys are safe in China!

No surprising considering many of the malls these stores are in (at least in the US) seem to be closing down, are already closed down, or likely will be closed down.

And the China store stays open.

You know I remember 2009. H1N1 was around.
5 million(!) in the USA got that bug every month.
Over 60 million for the whole year. Nothing was canceled.
I went to conventions, baseball games, concerts and not even my sons school was closed.
Tragically many children died.
Over 12,000 people lost their lives from April of that year into 2010.
I didn't remember any closing or the hysteria.

I got my two 40th anniversary trains so I am all good with my school closing and the lego store

@fulcrumbop said:
"Just started the work from home schedule today (off hours to save VPN traffic), and the kids are home for at least the next 2 weeks (likely a good deal longer). So yes, will have a lot of time to build. Luckily just bought the Roller Coaster with the help of accumulated reward points, so that's going to get a lot of playtime.

Be safe and smart everyone."

VPN is braking down badly also at my company. First stress test for 'work from home', and it fails miserably :-). We have office shifts now, with separated teams, single occupancy and disinfection. And I stay as contactless as possible to others. But I expect this to change to 100% work from home soon (kids are home, and we split between me and my wife). Lego stock at home should not become a problem, and if they can still go outside, even better.

My hope for the world: learn in isolation, how important socializing is, and caring for others, and maintain that also afterwards!

@bty8 said:
" @Robot99 said:
"So, uh, why are Chinese stores staying open?

I hope you guys are all staying safe!"

That's because we already have gone through the worst stage of the virus. The virus isn't gone but absolutely controled and some workplaces are operational again. "

I'd keep a very close eye on the part of 'absolutely controled'. All experts predict a second wave! Stay safe and maintain basic principles of hygiene these days...

The 27th of March is my birthday and i planed to surprise myself with the new Fiat 500.
I‘m in self isolation in Vienna/Austria with my family, and this will take a longer time …
So i startet with rebuilding older Creator-Experts vehicles. Like the VW-Camper. And next will be the VW-Beetle. And later the F40. And so on …
The Mustang GT 1967 was a birthday-present last year and is stiill glowing from my shelf.

Glad that it seems like most of us are safe for now. I'm proud of Lego for taking care of their staff.

I havent really been buying many sets recently but the situation will definitely impact my bricklink buying (as in, wont be making any orders until this is over).

My school is closing on Friday and there were only 15 of 29 people in my class.

I’ve never really hoarded Lego but I still have a few unopened poly bags and some ancient sets that will need dusting down and rebuilt.

Keep safe and be hygienic!

Food? Check
LEGO bricks? Check
Ample of RPG PC games? Check
Work from home? Check
What else can a man dream?!?!?!?!

Joking ofc... Stay safe everybody and good building!

How terrible the Wuhan virus!!

We have just closed off the island where I live and I am currently transitioning to working from home. The supermarkets have very little left, however, the supermarkets have said they have enough produce for 24 million (Aus population), just not 50 million, so the behaviour of the hoarders is another issue on top of the increasingly worrying news that so many people, small and large businesses, will have to almost cease and awful consequences to so many people.

We are only socially isolating at the moment and haven't locked down, although indicators are pointing that is where we are headed. Personally, although I am isolating myself as much a possible outside the transition, I am not looking forward to working from home. I like the social aspect of work, however, I will stringently adhere to whatever is recommended to ensure the best possible outcome from a horrible situation.

Since I'm basically a full-time caretaker for my parents, both of whom are definitely in the "at-risk" category (and I'm borderline in it myself), I've been doing nothing outside the home but grocery shopping since before there were any cases in my state. Didn't help that I somehow got a mild case of this year's flu--no, definitely not covid-19, but I wish I knew where I got it! I also wish I could get a little more toilet paper, but hopefully people are past the panic-buying phase and when it gets back into stock it won't sell out so quickly again.

Best wishes to everyone--stay safe until the first wave washes over us, and hope things improve fairly smoothly after that!

it's called Wuhan Coronavirus

@raist7 said:
" @bty8 said:
" @Robot99 said:
"So, uh, why are Chinese stores staying open?

I hope you guys are all staying safe!"

That's because we already have gone through the worst stage of the virus. The virus isn't gone but absolutely controled and some workplaces are operational again. "

I'd keep a very close eye on the part of 'absolutely controled'. All experts predict a second wave! Stay safe and maintain basic principles of hygiene these days..."

The second wave is actually already here but this time is quite different since most cases of second wave come from outside the country and self-quarrentine are mandatory for those who just entered the country. I hope u guys take stay home and take care. This is difficult but it does help.

@Robot99 said:
@bty8 said:
" @Robot99 said:
"So, uh, why are Chinese stores staying open?

I hope you guys are all staying safe!"

That's because we already have gone through the worst stage of the virus. The virus isn't gone but absolutely controled and some workplaces are operational again. "

Hmm, that certainly gives me hope that the U.S. will return to normal soon as well (which is what I was predicting anyways). Thanks for the info, and I hope you guys are safe in China!

Thank you for the kind wish. In this extremely difficult time we have received blessing from lego communities all over the wolrd which I'm quite grateful. Good luck to your guys out there as well!

@WemWem said:
"Working from home, and my wife is as well, for the foreseeable future.

It would be awesome if US store employees continued to receive paychecks while the stores are closed! Of course, we're basically the only developed nation with no national mandatory sick leave policy - which is HOLISTICALLY insane, but brutalist capitalism is the name of the game here.

Stay safe and healthy, everyone."

LEGO, in their announcement, made sure to state that all their retail employees would continue to be paid.

Someone already explained, but I think it’s worth iterating. China went through what we all are currently going through, 2 months ago, all the stores, including lego, were closed in the past two months. Apple recently released a similar statements that all stores now closed except China. There has been no new local cases as of yesterday, all are imported from other countries, now more strict regulations Are in place that anyone enters China will have to be quarantined for 14 days, and strictly enforced.

So for us, there’s hope, as long as we can do our part, staying home, flatten the curve stop the spreading, we can expect at most 2 months from now things can go back to normal, lego stores will be open again.

In conclusion, I really wish a better promotion in any form can be offered to help us make it through, please!

I, unfortunately, am busy as ever. Being an associate at a large grocery store during this time period has revealed the character of a lot of people around me (Some good, some not so much). I'm still building in my free time though, when I do get it.

Here in Australia the LEGO Certified Stores have removed play tables, the PAB wall and the minifigure station along with cancelling events but have otherwise decided to stay open for now.

@bty8:
And now China is encouraging everyone abroad to return home, potentially bringing a new wave of infections back into the country. If they're not quarantining every person who steps off an international flight, I don't see how they'll avoid a repeat.

@jonwil said:
"Here in Australia the LEGO Certified Stores have removed play tables, the PAB wall and the minifigure station along with cancelling events but have otherwise decided to stay open for now.
"

Yeah I would've liked to see PAB and BAM emptied and given a thorough clean here in Singapore. Long before any of this, some stores had perpetually particularly nasty PAB walls with layers of dust on the bricks. Ugh.

@PurpleDave said:
" @bty8:
And now China is encouraging everyone abroad to return home, potentially bringing a new wave of infections back into the country. If they're not quarantining every person who steps off an international flight, I don't see how they'll avoid a repeat."

The quarantine is forced and mandatory for at least 14 days for those who returned to the country from abroad regradless if you are a Chinese citizen or not.

@bty8:
Hmm. So, other than the fact that the government hasn't whole-scale wiped out any species of animal that could (and probably is) still carrying the SARS virus (be it this mutation or others), China may actually have this thing locked down. I know the specific wet market that's believed to be where this outbreak started has been shut down. The next step would be to introduce (and enforce) hygienic practices into this type of market, and banishment (and again enforcement) of the sale of wild animals. Change isn't going to come easily (there are other wet markets in the world where bush meat is strictly prohibited, but even Gordon Ramsey with a film crew was able to find someone willing to sell it to him without much difficulty), but if they don't start doing something about this, in a few years we'll be facing off with SARS-CoV-3.