Crayola draws on new ideas

0 Comments | USA TODAY, December, 2006 | by Bruce Horovitz

EASTON, PA. -- Step into the Crayola plant, and you might smell something besides the colorful collection of crayons oozing off the production line. Crayola also wants you to smell Christmas. Until now, the 103-year-old crayon kingpin mostly spent the holidays in hibernation. For decades, Crayola bet its bundle on back-to-school time, when parents, teachers and students load up on its crayons, markers and pencils.

But the crayon maker is now emerging as a serious toymaker. So serious, that before the end of the decade, sales of Crayola's toys and uber-crafts may pass sales of its core line of crayons and drawing products, says CEO Mark Schwab. "We're absolutely reinventing ourselves," Schwab says. Crayola has even reinvented its name. For a century, Crayola has operated...