Hi,

i have no idea if there was already a Topic about my following Question(s)? :

I´m wondering if it would be possible to open a LEGO-Store (a "physical"Store, not BL!) on your own (terms of money beside) and sell like loose Bricks/ Minifigs but also new Sets (current and maybe out of print ones) or is it something that TLG would prohibit? I mean could be be a problem to part out sets (bought as a retailer then) sell the loose Bricks and the Minifigs on their own (i´m thinking of maybe license-issues for certain Themes)?

Anybody had any Experience about it?

I have no experience at it but will give an opinion. It would be my take that TLG would not frown upon it because they have no control over it. It is a retail business that sells their product. That said they don't have to support it i.e. sell you sets at a discount or quantities of bricks at a bulk rate etc. Additionally, your overhead is much greater with an actual storefront vice a online store. You have to consider your target audience, location and overhead cost. It is my opinion that an independantly owned lego store is not cost effective. Now if it was a hobby store that had many things that can also appeal to that same type crowd then it could work. I don't know where you are located but if it's in the US, the economy has taken a big chunk out of that fun money people spend on things other than necessities. I'm not trying to rain on your parade but the reality is that it is not a good time to venture into an endeavor that has a relatively small margin for error. If anyone would like to fill my cup, it is more than half empty.

LMW

TLG wouldn't prohibit it, there is a store near where I live that sells old LEGO (and sometimes new stuff, but not as often). I don't think he actually has much of any interaction with TLG for that though, his old stuff he buys from people in the area and sites like eBay, and new sets he just gets from regular stores (Toys R Us, wal-mart, etc).

I have no experience at it but will give an opinion. It would be my take that TLG would not frown upon it because they have no control over it. It is a retail business that sells their product. That said they don't have to support it i.e. sell you sets at a discount or quantities of bricks at a bulk rate etc. Additionally, your overhead is much greater with an actual storefront vice a online store. You have to consider your target audience, location and overhead cost. It is my opinion that an independantly owned lego store is not cost effective. Now if it was a hobby store that had many things that can also appeal to that same type crowd then it could work. I don't know where you are located but if it's in the US, the economy has taken a big chunk out of that fun money people spend on things other than necessities. I'm not trying to rain on your parade but the reality is that it is not a good time to venture into an endeavor that has a relatively small margin for error. If anyone would like to fill my cup, it is more than half empty.

LMW

I agree with this post a lot. It's not a very good time to be opening an independent store right now, particularly something like LEGO that people generally can't easily afford with the economic situation. Making it a general hobby store though, and putting LEGO in one section, other stuff in other areas, etc, would probably increase chances of selling stuff.

You could open a toy store that only sells Lego, but you cannot open a "Lego" store. Like the others have said you need a better store model than just selling Lego.

Scott

Hi,

i have no idea if there was already a Topic about my following Question(s)? :

I´m wondering if it would be possible to open a LEGO-Store (a "physical"Store, not BL!) on your own (terms of money beside) and sell like loose Bricks/ Minifigs but also new Sets (current and maybe out of print ones) or is it something that TLG would prohibit? I mean could be be a problem to part out sets (bought as a retailer then) sell the loose Bricks and the Minifigs on their own (i´m thinking of maybe license-issues for certain Themes)?

Anybody had any Experience about it?

Have you done the math? I was considering an online presence and after considering the quantity of LEGO that I would have to sell, plus the investment in inventory I came to the conclusion that opening any store, particularly a LEGO store would be very costly and large financial investment/risk. Unless you have an inside track to very inexpensive inventory, well...

If you are still interested, I suggest you find the regional LEGO rep and discuss your idea.

Andy D

I spoke to a local toy store owner and his understanding was that TLC will sell to independent toy stores but will not do so if they are parting out new sets purchased at wholesale prices. Buying and selling used LEGO was not a problem.

You could better open a webshop to avoid overhead costs as for example building rent. The smaller toyshops in the Netherlands are disappearing.

Afterwards you can try to open a physical shop.

A Lego store in Delft, near to Rotterdam sells besides Lego also computers. You can try to sell other products besides Lego.

Do you have a business model about the profits?You have to sell a lot Lego to be profitable. But all the best!

Thanks for all your replies first!

It's not really my intention to open a store right now (btw i'm located in Germany),I was just thinking IF I (or somebody else around here) would do so,would I be able to get wholesale-prices from TLG for current sets if i would for example remove the Minifigs to sell them seperately or not.

It seems like there was already a Answer to this,so i guess this will always be a dream!

I had a similar conversation with the manager of my local hobby shop. They have a couple of little stores in our town as well as the main hobby/toy shop. One of these over Christmas was made into a LEGO only store. When they were doing this I asked if they were intending to set of a PAB wall and Mini-fig bar, but he told me the TLG would not support this. Basically there was not much stopping them doing it though other than cost and how much they would make from it. If they wanted to do it they would have to fund the bricks / minifig parts from TLG in the same way that nayone else would so it was just not worth the hassle or investment. They were not allowed to part out sets to sell on a PAB wall though.

Thanks for all your replies first!

It's not really my intention to open a store right now (btw i'm located in Germany),I was just thinking IF I (or somebody else around here) would do so,would I be able to get wholesale-prices from TLG for current sets if i would for example remove the Minifigs to sell them seperately or not.

It seems like there was already a Answer to this,so i guess this will always be a dream!

Hey Diggydoes,

I know a shop here in Hamburg selling used single bricks, and the guy said it's very difficult to get the bricks from people, because lots of them know what their stuff is worth and won't sell at prices you'd pay. The Lego issues aside, it's hard to maintain a brick and mortar shop these days when everyone first looks where to get the stuff online. Sad, but true

I think a Bricklink shop would be a good alternative.

Hey Diggydoes,

I know a shop here in Hamburg selling used single bricks, and the guy said it's very difficult to get the bricks from people, because lots of them know what their stuff is worth and won't sell at prices you'd pay. The Lego issues aside, it's hard to maintain a brick and mortar shop these days when everyone first looks where to get the stuff online. Sad, but true

I think a Bricklink shop would be a good alternative.

well i used to have a second hand shop dealing in toys in my neighbourhood. They used to have looooots of Lego in the 80's and the 90's, like 5-6 Space monorail, at least 2 galaxy explorers, and several trains... then Star Wars came along and suddenly, everybody wanted the older stuff too, prices went up, even at flea markets... then Ebay turned up... that kinda killed the toy shop... I still hate myself for not having bought the entire Lego collection when it still was very cheap!

So yeah... lots have changed in 10-15 years...

as far as the lego shop goes, obviously, you'd need permission from Lego to sell Lego in a Lego shop. Not only that, you'd also be very dependent upon the company, because you only have 1 type of product, and you'd have to rely upon very exclusive, rare sets, stuff you normally only find on the Lego site or other Lego shops. You don't control prices either because Lego will not allow stiff competition between a Lego shop and the other toyshops... you also can't order any number of sets you want. there are package deals and even though you're promoting their product, it doesn't mean they'll give you something extra for it...

I'm already runnin a small BL-shop,the problem with it is to get the prices you want (need) for the bricks/minifigs you're offering since BL is worldwide! The set-prices in the US are way cheaper than over here in Germany so it's hard to beat US-BL seller at that! I thought with a physical-store you would maybe even attract other people that would normally not shop by BL (like parents, kids...).

1) LEGO almost assuredly won't permit you to use the word "LEGO" in the name. But you can sell all the LEGO you want to, whether it's new, used, mangled, or whatever.

2) LEGO doesn't work well with independent vendors-- they focus on big box stores. Back in the 1990's and before, LEGO worked extensively with small stores, and had a great working relationship with them. Then, in roughly 2000 (maybe 2001?) LEGO very consciously decided to stop working as much with them.

They cut the staff who dealt with small stores dramatically, and created new mandates about what was available for purchase for small retailers. Rather than saying "here's our catalog, buy whatever you want for your store", they said that each small vendor had to buy at least SOME of their core lines. So if you wanted to avoid Bionicle at your store, well, tough noogies-- you had to buy some anyway.

Also, new sets were (and I believe still are) unavailable to small retailers, which I believe is to ensure that large retailers will always have them first. New products are available to small retailers only after they've been available to other retailers for months.

3) Not sure what the rules are these days, but there used to be a very strict set of rules that LEGO made their vendors work with. If you wanted to buy LEGO at wholesale prices, you had to have a storefront that lived up to their standards-- effectively, they didn't want some shoddy looking store selling their product.

Otherwise, I would echo the statements above. The store's not likely to turn much of a profit on BrickLink-style lots. I know at least Troy does this with his LEGO supply, where he partners with a local toy store to provide them some parts that they can sell. It's not enough (I don't believe) to support the entire store on its own, but it's a nice little bonus on the side.

I would recommend offering other goods or services-- either other toys, other construction toys, or perhaps play experiences like LEGO building sessions, educational workshops, or other events where kids can pay to come play with your LEGO. Of course, that involves a lot of thought, too-- if you're working with kids, there's background checks to worry about, as well as insurance needs, child services certification (like CPR, etc), and sanitary concerns (who's been playing with the LEGO before my kids played with it?).

DaveE

As far as I know, you can't franchise a Lego store. I believe Lego owns every one of its stores. Like others have said, you can try to sell just Lego at your own toy store, but I wouldn't see you doing very good business. Especially if someone can go to Wal-Mart and the like and pick up other things plus the Lego product at a good price.

Good luck though. I know as a kid I would have loved to walk into a store that only sold Lego (I'm from the middle of the country and had to drive 2 hours to a mall).

Try going to Hong Kong, they have a shopping mall full of indie Lego shops...

Are you british? I wouldn't mind a store.

Are you british? I wouldn't mind a store.

nope i´m from Cologne/Germany!

I don't think TLG would prohibit it. There's a store in my city called Bricks4Kidz, and even though they're primarily an after-school center for kids where they can build with LEGOs, but they also sell (some) LEGO sets.