Post by Admin on May 12, 2018 3:01:53 GMT
www.bleedingcool.com/2018/05/11/kb-toys-retuning-holidays-stores/
KB Toys is in Fact Returning, with Some Very Ambitious Goals
Posted by Jeremy Konrad May 11, 2018
KB Toys is coming back. The company looks to rise from the ashes of Toys R Us after their own demise back in 2009. Almost a decade later, they aim to have pop-up stores open for this upcoming holiday season. Even more ambitious plans are afoot for after that, as detailed in a digital conference call that took place at Playcon in San Francisco this week. Some highlights:
KB Toys
– Their goal is to have 400-600 pop-up shops running by the holidays. They have a number of key people involved with Toys R Us working with them, and the new business will be operated out of New Jersey since that is where a lot of those people are now. The goal is for these seasonal KB Toys stores to become permanent stores after the holidays. Decisions will be made after the holidays on a store-by-store basis. Their long-term goal is to have 300-400 permanent stores within four years.
– It seems like quite a bit of the funding is coming from mall companies themselves to try to get toy stores back into their malls in effort to increase foot traffic.
– Each store will have a “Toy Nerd” (terrible name) whose job will be to have vast knowledge of the toy industry and and what is hot on the collectors market to assist in purchases. Seriously — work on that name, people.
– KB Toys will be working with local toy groups to host events in store, along with companies for more in-store experiences including autograph signings, vendor roadshows, and toy designer meet-and-greets and Q&As.
– They also want to open some stores the size of regular Toys R Us stores that will include cafés, play areas, party rooms, party registries, and the ability to place online orders in-store for pickup. They also plan on building a state-of-the-art online store and presence that TRU for sure lacked towards the end.
This is all good in theory, but I am still in “believe it when I see it” mode. It would be awesome if it all plays out this way. The world needs toy stores for kids to walk into and escape from the world for a while, and online shopping does not fill that need. If TRU’s death has a silver lining, this could be it — for youngsters and collectors both.
(Last Updated May 11, 2018 2:58 pm )
KB Toys is in Fact Returning, with Some Very Ambitious Goals
Posted by Jeremy Konrad May 11, 2018
KB Toys is coming back. The company looks to rise from the ashes of Toys R Us after their own demise back in 2009. Almost a decade later, they aim to have pop-up stores open for this upcoming holiday season. Even more ambitious plans are afoot for after that, as detailed in a digital conference call that took place at Playcon in San Francisco this week. Some highlights:
KB Toys
– Their goal is to have 400-600 pop-up shops running by the holidays. They have a number of key people involved with Toys R Us working with them, and the new business will be operated out of New Jersey since that is where a lot of those people are now. The goal is for these seasonal KB Toys stores to become permanent stores after the holidays. Decisions will be made after the holidays on a store-by-store basis. Their long-term goal is to have 300-400 permanent stores within four years.
– It seems like quite a bit of the funding is coming from mall companies themselves to try to get toy stores back into their malls in effort to increase foot traffic.
– Each store will have a “Toy Nerd” (terrible name) whose job will be to have vast knowledge of the toy industry and and what is hot on the collectors market to assist in purchases. Seriously — work on that name, people.
– KB Toys will be working with local toy groups to host events in store, along with companies for more in-store experiences including autograph signings, vendor roadshows, and toy designer meet-and-greets and Q&As.
– They also want to open some stores the size of regular Toys R Us stores that will include cafés, play areas, party rooms, party registries, and the ability to place online orders in-store for pickup. They also plan on building a state-of-the-art online store and presence that TRU for sure lacked towards the end.
This is all good in theory, but I am still in “believe it when I see it” mode. It would be awesome if it all plays out this way. The world needs toy stores for kids to walk into and escape from the world for a while, and online shopping does not fill that need. If TRU’s death has a silver lining, this could be it — for youngsters and collectors both.
(Last Updated May 11, 2018 2:58 pm )