Officials with Toys “R” Us Canada have apologized for an ‘in-store pricing discrepancy’ that resulted in a dark-skinned baby doll priced differently than its nearly identical light-skinned counterpart.

During a recent visit to the Toys “R” Us location on Macleod Trail, Calgarian Carolyn Wadsworth, a prenatal educator, noticed a pricing issue with the ‘You & Me’ 16" Kissing Baby dolls on the store’s shelf. The doll labelled ‘ethnic’ was priced at $22.99 while a similar Caucasian doll was priced at $24.99.

Wadsworth notified store management of her concern.

“The woman at the store said she was aware of the issue and that management had raised it with corporate,” said Wadsworth in a Thursday interview with CTV Calgary. “So far, corporate had done nothing about it.”

According to Wadsworth, the manager indicated pricing was controlled at the corporate level and store management was unable to make an adjustment.

On Friday, Victoria Spada-Miele, manager of public relations and special events for Toys “R” Us Canada, issued a statement through email to CTV Calgary apologizing for the discrepancy.

“The in-store pricing discrepancy was due to an operational error. Toys“R”Us Canada sincerely apologizes for this oversight and it was absolutely not due to the dolls’ ethnicity. Once we became aware of the error, we corrected it immediately and both dolls now sell for the lower price of $22.99. We are reviewing this incident to help ensure we don't make the same operational mistake in the future.