They ve got this huge equity of the presence in the malls, Bern said. It s time to define that personality, in light of how toy shopping is happening now. 20 percent of KB s business and children showing an earlier preference for teen and adult products. On the retail end, giants like Wal-Mart and Kmart are getting ever more aggressive in toys. Then there s the Internet.
Glazer admits the site was creamed while pursuing an initial public offering.
We did a lot of, from a business standpoint, foolish things, he said. Some good news for KB has come out of the demise of dot-com competitors like eToys and Toysmart. Analysts say the name recognition for the KBKids site lags behind Toys R Us and other big names, and that KB is unlikely to catch up any time soon. But any strong retailer needs a Web presence, and KB s site makes it an effective multi-channel retailer. The toy business has been up and down, but Glazer points out the compound growth rate for the last 20 years has been 6 percent.