What's truly bizarre to me is that LEGO are opening up stores all over the place in the U.S. as if they're Starbucks, but don't seem to give a crap about opening any stores in the major European cities. ...

Yeah, I don't really get it... I live in the Metro Atlanta area - it's quite a large area, honestly, driving from one side to the other can take over an hour without any traffic (I'm talking about the METRO area, not the city limits). We used to have TWO outlet stores. Then I suppose the amount of interest couldn't sustain both stores, so one closed (this is many years ago).

Now the one that stayed open has been upgraded from "outlet"to a full retail store; another new full retail store is opening, and a Discovery Center has opened in one of the fancy malls closer to the city.... all three of these are located between N and E on a compass with Atlanta in the center. I don't get how it's suddenly so popular... a decade ago they were on the verge of bankruptcy, partly from over-expansion... but now it seems like they are falling into the same trap. It might make more sense if they were more distributed around the city... but the N, and specifically NE are generally considered more affluent.

Edited May 21, 201212 yr by fred67

What's truly bizarre to me is that LEGO are opening up stores all over the place in the U.S. as if they're Starbucks, but don't seem to give a crap about opening any stores in the major European cities.

If I may venture a suggestion. The nature of retail in the United States is very different than elsewhere. Notice the MSRP of sets in the US is significantly lower than anywhere else even though the productions costs are the same?

Now, some of the differential is always blamed on different tax regimes but I think what is often ignored is the insanely competitive retail market in the US. Thanks to the kind of cut-throat competition that gives us the Wal-Marts of the world, American consumers expect to pay less than those elsewhere.

So, if you are a wholesaler having to sell your product to Wal-Mart, Target, TRU etc at a lower price than you sell to Harrod's, (sorry I don't know Euro chain names beyond that) how do you make more money in that market? Answer: you become a direct-to-consumer retailer and keep more of the profit in-house rather than leaving it for the retailers.

That also means that while they could do the same in Europe they are more profitable in Europe on the wholesale side already so there is not the same incentive. As well, I think that European retailers are more likely to fight back if LEGO started competing with them more directly.

Pure speculation on my point of course but it makes sense to me.

I went to the LEGO store in Birmingham yesterday, and what I can't understand is why Birmingham has one, but not Memphis.

Or, seeing as there's 64 (sixty-four) Lego stores in the US, and none in Norway (or in most other European countries, for that matter), why not branch out to some other countries? Lego stores only exist in five countries world-wide (US, Canada, UK, Germany, and Denmark), and US is the single most lucky one... :)

And none in Israel, and none probably ever will be in Israel

Edited May 23, 201212 yr by Flare

If I may venture a suggestion. The nature of retail in the United States is very different than elsewhere. Notice the MSRP of sets in the US is significantly lower than anywhere else even though the productions costs are the same?

Now, some of the differential is always blamed on different tax regimes but I think what is often ignored is the insanely competitive retail market in the US. Thanks to the kind of cut-throat competition that gives us the Wal-Marts of the world, American consumers expect to pay less than those elsewhere.

So, if you are a wholesaler having to sell your product to Wal-Mart, Target, TRU etc at a lower price than you sell to Harrod's, (sorry I don't know Euro chain names beyond that) how do you make more money in that market? Answer: you become a direct-to-consumer retailer and keep more of the profit in-house rather than leaving it for the retailers.

That also means that while they could do the same in Europe they are more profitable in Europe on the wholesale side already so there is not the same incentive. As well, I think that European retailers are more likely to fight back if LEGO started competing with them more directly.

I think you're absolutely right. They're making tons of money off retail in Europe already, because of higher margins. Why disrupt that channel? You start putting in LEGO stores, and your existing retailers will start cutting back on shelf space.

Plus I suspect that retail is expensive in Europe. You've got to hire those employees usually, pay them big benefits, and getting rid of them is much more difficult in most parts of Europe than in the US. If business takes a downturn in the US, you just lay off the store employees and close the store. No pesky job security worries. It's harsh for the employees, but it makes it easier for TLG to open stores.

Plus I suspect that there are lots of small toy stores in Europe. Smaller retailers, that are not part of large chains, are easier for TLG to push around and retain larger margins for themselves. In the US, most toys are sold through huge retail chains (TRU, Walmart, Target, Amazon). Those guys have enough market clout to demand lower wholesale prices from TLG, thus shrinking TLG's margins. So TLG opens stores to try to cut out the retailer and keep that retailing margin for themselves. Obviously, it's working.

As for expanding store coverage, it totally makes sense to do it organically, and grow outwards from existing stores. That way you can leverage existing distribution networks, and the regional management infrastructure.

I'm certainly not complaining; I live within a 45 minute drive of three stores! The closest one is 20 minutes away; if it was any closer, I'd probably be broke.

So my guesses for criteria are:

• Market dominated by large, powerful retail chains
  
• Wouldn't hurt any existing nearby high-margin independent toy retailers
  
• Not in same mall/shopping center as another retailer like Walmart, Target, or TRU
  
• Large number of fairly affluent households with small children in the area
  
• Proximity to existing TLG distribution and regional management
  
• Easy/inexpensive to bail out and close store if it doesn't work out
  

That said, I don't know why we have three stores in the south and east bay area and none in the north bay. Seems like Corte Madera would be an obvious choice, except there are a few independent toy stores there already.

I'm certainly not complaining; I live within a 45 minute drive of three stores! The closest one is 20 minutes away; if it was any closer, I'd probably be broke.

Haha! I'm totally the same. I always think if I had one closer, I'd be in big trouble. There's 3 stores around me as well, but all around 2 hours away.

I didn't know we had two in the Atlanta region!

None in Latin America.

There are two in Colombia - Bogota and Medellin - with a third opening up in Cali later this year.

They are ran under license by a separate company, hence while they are identical to the LEGO store in every other way, they aren't part of the VIP program nor advertised as part of the chain by LEGO itself.

http://www.colombia.com/entretenimiento/fotos/sdi40/26123/lego-store-abre-sus-puertas-por-primera-vez-en-colombia

http://www.facebook.com/LEGOstorecolombia

Edited May 25, 201212 yr by MAH4546

Closest one to me is over an 8 hour drive. Why no love for Utah? Salt Lake City is certainly a big enough area to warrant one, especially seeing as how they just opened up the City Creek Center which is a huge mall development that has brought a ton of high-end stores to town. I would love it if they had some sort of a 'franchise' system because I would seriously be interested in opening up one on my own.

Clanure

Closest one to me is over an 8 hour drive. Why no love for Utah? Salt Lake City is certainly a big enough area to warrant one, especially seeing as how they just opened up the City Creek Center which is a huge mall development that has brought a ton of high-end stores to town. I would love it if they had some sort of a 'franchise' system because I would seriously be interested in opening up one on my own.

Because Mormons don't have enough children!

Because Mormons don't have enough children!

Exactly! Where else can you go and have 7 children not be that unusual? Seriously though, that's probably the reason right there. Not enough expendable income to spend on Lego when you are trying to feed 7 kids. Still I would dearly love having one closer, although my wallet probably wouldn't...

Clanure

Exactly! Where else can you go and have 7 children not be that unusual? Seriously though, that's probably the reason right there. Not enough expendable income to spend on Lego when you are trying to feed 7 kids. Still I would dearly love having one closer, although my wallet probably wouldn't...

Clanure

It's both a blessing and a curse. That's how I look at it. If I had one, say...30 mins or so away, I'd be there all the time...I typically go to TRU once a week except the inbetween time when I'm saving up for the next release wave.

Exactly! Where else can you go and have 7 children not be that unusual? Seriously though, that's probably the reason right there. Not enough expendable income to spend on Lego when you are trying to feed 7 kids. Still I would dearly love having one closer, although my wallet probably wouldn't...

Don't forget the 10-15% tithe to the LDS Church also... That sure doesn't leave much $$ for LEGO.

Having a store close by can sometimes be a drain on the wallet, but sometimes the PAB wall is so much cheaper than BrickLink (although, surprisingly, not always). So you can save some big bucks by not buying sets and just loading up at the PAB wall. I'm not sure if I lived farther away whether I would save any money. I'd probably blow through just as much, but actually get less due to the "TRU tax" and BrickLink.

That's really why I want one. I have TRUs, Wal-Marts, and Targets but I can only get regular retail stuff there. I really want a Lego Store for the PAB wall and to get the exclusives without having to pay shipping every time.

Hopefully someday...

Clanure

Closest one to me is over an 8 hour drive. Why no love for Utah? Salt Lake City is certainly a big enough area to warrant one

I've thought for quite a while that SLC would be a great location. It seems like the kind of city that would have a lot of Lego fans, both AFOLs and children. And I there is the Utah LUG too.

Las Vegas, I think would be another good location. With all the tourists, they could do up a touristy shop, like the one at the Disney mall.

Steve

I've thought for quite a while that SLC would be a great location. It seems like the kind of city that would have a lot of Lego fans, both AFOLs and children. And I there is the Utah LUG too.

Las Vegas, I think would be another good location. With all the tourists, they could do up a touristy shop, like the one at the Disney mall.

Maybe you all should email this guy: Kevin.hinkle@lego.com; he's a LEGO employee, Community Coordinator for North America, I think. It's probably not his decision or anything, but he can probably pass the feedback along.

Speaking as one of the lucky ones - four stores within reasonable driving distance, the closest being 20 min away without traffic (and faster to crawl to on your knees during rush hours) - I think there are several additional factors that people haven't mentioned yet.

In addition to _being_ located where there's a lot of local consumer traffic, I think TLG must also factor in how far potential consumers are willing to travel out of their way to get to get to them . I have relatives in Maine who think nothing of driving 300 miles to come down to Boston to catch a ball game or to "swing by" the malls to hit the Lego Store, the Apple Store, and numerous other direct marketing stores that consider Southern New England the end of the Earth when it comes to having a retail presence. In contrast, I know people that live in Lexington who complain about the traffic trying to get to the Burlington Mall (the two towns abut, you just need to cross the highway) and absolutely hate the idea of driving in towards the city Boston itself. I'm guessing TLG has figured this out because it seems like, although we have 4 stores in the greater Boston area, they're really situated in places that attract traffic from people coming in from Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut and the central and western parts of Massachusetts, but no store in Boston proper (probably because downtown rents are ridiculous and people in Boston are more willing to head out of the city than people from the suburbs are to go into it).

Another point is that, at least in the US malls where I've been to Lego Stores, the store are located in the higher end malls with a fair number of Direct Brand Marketing (Apple, Sony, Omega, etc) not Kmark or Walmart or Target style discount superstores. In many cases they are the _only_ 'toy store' listed in the mall directory so they're not directly competing with any of their neighbors; and when parents need to bribe Johnny to quiet down after a long boring day of shopping, Lego is the only game in town. And speaking of competition, toy stores (at least in my area) have gone the way of bookstores. When I was growing up, they were everywhere, now even Toy-R-Us has folded up shop and moved on due to on-line retail competition and outrageous retail rental costs.

Finally, and probably most importantly, Massachusetts has multiple store because, apparently, it can sustain them (in this regard I suppose you could call me an enabler...). My Lego store always has a line at the cash register and on multiple occasions has been sold out of high end kits like the Death Star and the SuperStar Destroyer. At 400-500 USD a kit, being able to sell these sets in quantity - in this economy - has to say something about the thought that went into choosing the store location.

None in the Netherlands !!!! Amsterdam ring à Bell ????

Since this thread rose from the dead... All the logic from the above posts can be invalidated by a single line. There is no LEGO store in Las Vegas. There is not a single location in the entire US more suited to this kind of store. The sheer volume of visitors, and diversity in said visitors makes it the ideal. Foreign visitors, people on trips to take stuff home to their kids...and above all...MONEY. Tons and tons of money in and out of VEgas. There is even a huge open space between the M&M store and the Coke store... Anyone from LEGO out there listening? If only you get get a franchise, I'd so mortgage my house to do it there.

Since this thread rose from the dead... All the logic from the above posts can be invalidated by a single line. There is no LEGO store in Las Vegas. There is not a single location in the entire US more suited to this kind of store. The sheer volume of visitors, and diversity in said visitors makes it the ideal. Foreign visitors, people on trips to take stuff home to their kids...and above all...MONEY. Tons and tons of money in and out of VEgas. There is even a huge open space between the M&M store and the Coke store... Anyone from LEGO out there listening? If only you get get a franchise, I'd so mortgage my house to do it there.

Yes, but Las Vegas is a key location for a retail store of any kind, not just a LEGO store. And because of that, it is probably very, very expensive to open a store there, at least in a suitably business-friendly location. That makes it a little risky. You've definitely got a point, though, and I have no doubt that if TLG continues to open stores in the U.S., Las Vegas is an area they will want to keep in mind.

Fairview Mall, Toronto, Ontario

Sherway Gardens, Toronto, Ontario

Chinook Centre, Calgary, Alberta

COMING SOON, Oak Ridge Mall, Vancouver, Bristish Columbia

You forgot the one opening at the Southgate mall in Edmonton.

I live in Spokane, WA, the second largest city in the state, and I've been hoping for a LEGO store for years. Seattle now has 2 stores, but that's a five+ hour drive. The Spokane Valley would be an ideal place to put a store, as the area is growing and enjoys consumerism from both Idaho and Canadian shoppers. I keep hoping.

However, I don't want to whine too loudly, as I'm aware that a lot of places don't have any LEGO stores at all, or the stores are neither within reasonable nor convenient driving range.

Edited June 30, 201311 yr by M'Kyuun

I also live in Washington, and to be fair they're in Lynnwood and Bellevue. I'm actually surprised that Seattle hasn't got it's own store yet. However, I live by Everett, so I'm within an hour of both, and have no room to complain . I do wish that they had more stores, though,to take other places in the state into account.

it would certainly be interesting to see what the criteria is because its definitely not proximity. It could be density of the population or just the whim of development and available opportunity but (at the risk of pissing off a lot of you) I can count a rather large number of LEGO stores that are reasonably close and accessible to my area (I live in northern NJ). We have one in Elizabeth, NJ 15 min from my town. One in Paramus, about 30 mins away, one in the Palisades mall by Nyack,NY thats about an hour away, one just opened in freehold NJ which is an hr south, and one in white planes ny which is about a hour and 20 min drive, then theres the one in NYC which is 40 mins away by either car or train and one in bridgewater which is about 40 mins from me.... Theres actually more i just think I've made my point. I dont understand WHY some countries entirely would be left out and my immediate area would be so lucky as to have 7+ within a small area. The ONLY thing that i can see justifying it is the density of population which falls into the target demographic and since theres a lot of opportunity for sales they keep opening more. I was at 2 separate grand openings in the past week and both had very long lines to get in the store, so the demand is there. It's all a lot to think about but in the end America is LEGO's biggest market right now, if im not mistaken, and nurturing that market is a great way to remain profitable. NOW thats not to say lego store opportunities in europe or elsewhere wouldn't be a good way to build lego BUT one step at a time. Remember you guys get all the good official stuff. I can only dream about taking a tour of the factory or being able to attend all those great european LEGO/AFOL related events you euro blokes have. But not to go tit for tat, the grass will always be greener on the other side. At the end of the day we all still find a way to get our hands on the LEGO we want right? Thats plenty to be grateful for imo.

Edited July 2, 201311 yr by rubberninja