Lego youth furniture line
By Brian Carroll -- Kids Today, 2/1/2007 12:00:00 AM
Danish toy giant Lego has partnered with Finnish furniture producer InCap to roll out a licensed youth furniture collection.
The collection will be sold in the United States first through Lego's 25 dedicated stores, said Andrea Courir Ryder, licensing director at Lego. InCap also is in talks with the 1,500-store Target chain for possible distribution, said Marko Leppapuska, InCap's marketing manager.
The Lego Children Furniture Range, which is designed around two core storage units, made its debut at the International Furniture Fair in Cologne, Germany, in January.
"We have been working on this partnership for the past year," Leppapuska said. "We used both a U.S. designer and a Finnish designer, Alpo Keinanen, to develop the line."
InCap also produces adult bedroom and dining room furniture, using solid pine and MDF. Its sales of 72 million euro last year (about $96 million) make it a major manufacturer. Leppapuska said he expects the Lego line to add between $15 million and $20 million to sales.
InCap also supplies youth bedroom furniture to Ikea.
In conjunction with the retail launch in Lego stores in May, InCap is planning to show in the United States, but has not decided yet between introducing it at the Las Vegas or High Point markets.
"We know the brand had tremendous value," Leppapuska said, "so we want to be careful in our marketing" in the United States.
In addition to the furniture, InCap has developed with Lego a turnkey retail display system for spaces of between 100 and 150 square feet.
Lego could use a big hit in furniture. The company is three years into a turnaround plan engineered by Jorgan Vig Knudstorp, the Danish toy maker's head of strategy. Since posting losses of $325 million in 2003, the company has been showing progress toward sustainable profitability. Last year, the company reported profits of $48 million for the first six months on sales that grew by 19%.
Storage is an important feature of the Lego youth program from InCap Furniture. Like Lego toys, two basic storage cubes can be stacked and combined for as much storage as a consumer wants.
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