Toys for educating children on track for major comeback - Brief Article - Statistical Data Included

Discount Store News, Oct 4, 1999 by Cecile B. Corral

Amid the glitz and glitter created both in stores an on-line by toys from Pokemon, Toy Story 2; Star Wars and other highly promoted licenses, toy retailers are expecting their subtler selections of educational toys to cash in more generously this season than ever before.

A recently released study by Internet research and analysis firm Gomez Advisors found that educational toys are the fastest-growing segment of the toy industry, with sales increasing 12% in 1998. In particular, on-line toy retailers are responding by marketing these products and offering comprehensive information to drive sales, the study said.

"On-line toy stores have seen the potential of the educational market, and they have embraced it heartily," senior analyst Liz Leonard said in a company-issued press release. "This has not been the case with many bricks-and-mortar stores."

Kbkids.com, for one, in mid-September introduced its latest departmental addition showcasing an array of specialty education toys. The new department was named "brainplay" after the original name of the kbkids.com site before Internet specialty toy retailer brainplay.com partnered with bricks-and-mortar toy store K * B Toys earlier this year to create the new and upgraded on-line toy store.

"Educational toys was originally our specialty," said Tim Davis, merchandising manager for K * B Toys. "That's why we want to be sure we keep that part of the business going. Our customers really respond to it."

Srikant Srinivasan, ceo of K * B Toys, told DSN in an earlier interview that while educational toys no longer make up 100% of his business, these non-violent alternatives to play remain a healthy part of his company's business, occupying an estimated 20% total.

While Gomez Advisors did not attribute bricks-and-mortar toy retailers with having a strong educational toys presentation, Toys "R" Us is planning to pay closer attention to this niche. In its new store prototype and toysrus.com Web site, both of which are rolling out through the end of this year and into the year 2000, educational toys departments are prominently featured and make up a large portion of the new stores. In physical units, for example, educational toys are bunched together separately of other merchandise in a carpeted area near the front of the store.

"For the holidays we will be working with some of our vendor partners who make educational toys to promote their merchandise," said Jim Feldt, vp of United States merchandising for TRU.

But for the most part, online retailers are launching the strongest initiatives for educational, non-violent toy promotions. Amazon.com emphasizes them on its site; eToys features a broad selection of these toys; and Toysmart.com is focusing mainly on them.

"Why fight traffic and wait in lines at the store when the on-line toy sites are making it so easy and affordable to buy via the Web?" Leonard said.