Published: November 06, 2009 12:04 am      

Meijer enters toy-pricing fray

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Midwestern chain of Meijer stores has entered a toy-pricing war with national retail giants Wal-Mart and Target, dropping prices 30 percent on more than 400 toys.

Grand Rapids-based Meijer Inc., which operates a store in Kokomo, announced Wednesday that the discount is available until Dec. 24 or until inventory runs out. Included are such popular items as Barbie dolls and Transformers.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. started selling 100 toys for $10 each in late September. The world’s largest retailer announced Monday that it was cutting prices on another 100 toys by up to 30 percent.

Target Corp. lowered prices last month by up to half on toys expected to be big sellers during the holiday season.

Meijer operates 190 stores throughout Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Kentucky.