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iPad 2 scarce at Toys 'R' Us

Select Toys "R" Us stores are selling the iPad 2 now, but that doesn't necessarily translate into in-store availability. Only select stores had the iPad, and they're selling out almost immediately.

Brooke Crothers Former CNET contributor
Brooke Crothers writes about mobile computer systems, including laptops, tablets, smartphones: how they define the computing experience and the hardware that makes them tick. He has served as an editor at large at CNET News and a contributing reporter to The New York Times' Bits and Technology sections. His interest in things small began when living in Tokyo in a very small apartment for a very long time.
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Brooke Crothers

Toys "R" Us store began selling the iPad 2 today, but only select stores have them.

Toys R Us already sells a ton of iPad accessories. But in-store availability of the actual device is very limited.
Toys "R" Us already sells a ton of iPad accessories. But in-store availability of the actual device is very limited. Toys R Us

The iPad 2 has been chronically selling out at stores everywhere so news that a new outlet will have the iPad 2 can potentially send shoppers scurrying to that location.

But don't expect to waltz into a Toys "R" Us today and get one. In the Los Angeles area, only select Toys "R" Us stores got a shipment of iPad 2s.

And a store in Tustin, Calif.--a Los Angeles suburb--had already sold out of the iPad 2 by 10 a.m. The store opened at 9 a.m.

Best Buy launched an iPad 2 promotion in its weekly flier. Problem is, few stores have any inventory.
Best Buy launched an iPad 2 promotion in its weekly flier. Problem is, few stores have any inventory. Best Buy

The situation isn't much better at Apple stores. The Manhattan Apple store had no stock on Sunday and a store representative said they generally sell out every day.

And Best Buy, despite aggressive promotions (see graphic), has trouble keeping any inventory. Chicago downtown and Thousand Oaks, Calif., stores said they're only taking orders and have none in stock. And a store representative at the Thousand Oaks store apologized for giving the impression that iPads, via a Sunday flier featuring the iPad 2, were in stock, when they weren't.