In my Where To Buy Zhu Zhu Pets Hamsters post, I mentioned that there were people coming to this site to try to find out where they could buy Zhu Zhu Pets in Canada. Since then, I've had a lot more people looking for information about buying them in Canada, so I thought I should look at this more closely.
The Official Word - Zhu Zhu Pets Are Available In Canada
Firstly, according to the official Zhu Zhu Pets website, Zhu Zhu Pets are available for purchase in Canada:
We are the manufacturer/ distributor of these frantically funny furry pet pals, and are most pleased to distribute the Zhu Zhu Pets™ Hamsters and Playsets throughout the US, Europe and Canada.
So we know that they are available in Canada. But where? The obvious places to start are the big stores such as Toys R Us and Walmart.
Zhu Zhu Pets At Toys R Us Canada?
I found a forum posting on SmartCanucks.ca where a poster says that Toys R Us is the only place in Canada carrying Zhu Zhu Pets. I can't find any further information to back this up, but it seems that Toys R Us is the best place to start.
However, further down the same page someone says that Toys R Us Canada can't keep up with the demand so they removed Zhu Zhu Pets from their website.
I ordered 2 Zhu Zhu pets in early October on the Toysrus.ca website. I preordered them to receive Nov30...since then they have taken them off the website completely. I called the customer service line and she said that I would still get mine if I had an order number but they couldn't keep up with the orders so they took the zhu zhu pets right off the website.
Sure enough, when I do a search for Zhu Zhu Pets on the Toys R Us website, I get a message (at least at the time of posting) which says:
We are having trouble locating a match for your search: zhu zhu pets
So strike Toys R Us from the list of possibilities! They are supposed to be carrying the Zhu Zhu Pets range, but they can't keep them in stock, same as the stores south of the border.
Zhu Zhu Pets At Walmart Canada?
Next I turned to Walmart, even though I've found no confirmation that they will sell Zhu Zhu Pets in Canada and the poster on the SmartCanucks forum says that Toys R Us are the only provider. It just seems inconceivable that Walmart won't sell Zhu Zhu Pets. I mean why wouldn't they? However a search of the Walmart Canada website gives me:
We found 0 result(s) for "zhu zhu pets"
So whatever Walmart are doing in Canada, they're not selling Zhu Zhu Pets on their websites. I can only presume that if you're lucky you may be able to find them in a Walmart store, but that your chances are slim. I'd say it's pretty obvious that they are also having trouble keeping them in stock.
Where Can You Buy Zhu Zhu Pets In Canada?
So really, it seems Canada is no different from the US. Zhu Zhu Pets are available in Canada, but they are just so popular that they can't stay in the stores. Therefore, my answer to the question above is that same that I give to people in the US:
Your best option to buy a Zhu Zhu Pets Hamster before Christmas is to buy them online (but obviously not from Toys R Us or Walmart, who don't have any!). So what's the best option? I think it's Amazon:
There are Zhu Zhu Pets available right now on Amazon.
Yes, they do cost more than list price (and they seem to be going up as Christmas gets closer), but they are in stock and you can buy them right now and have them in a couple of days. That's got to be better than running around and wasting your time at shops that don't have any.
I think the reality is that if you do want to buy some Zhu Zhu Pets before Christmas, you'll have to pay over the odds. It's either that or forget Zhu Zhu Pets and find something else for your kids.
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