The LA Fall Toy Previews are underway, and nearly 300 toy and game manufacturers are looking to meet with members of the international retail community in the greater Los Angeles area.
UK-based Addo Play first took space in the growing El Segundo Toy District last year with a temporary space during the April previews. By September 2023, the company established a U.S.-based subsidiary, Addo Play USA LLC. It secured a permanent showroom at 1960 E. Grand Avenue, the location affectionately dubbed “The New Toy Building” as a nod to the former Toy Center in New York City.
This year, Addo Play is rolling full steam ahead to grow its business in the U.S. Addo Play Co-Founders and CEOs Mary Price and David Martin are keen to meet with potential retail partners looking to grow their businesses through a robust line of products across an extensive range within the Addo and Early Learning Centre brands.
The Toy Book: Could you give us a little backstory about Addo Play’s history for those unfamiliar with your company and products.
Addo Play: Founded in 2015, Addo Play is an award-winning, dynamic toy company offering any retailer a “ready to go” multicategory toy opportunity. Through our Addo and Early Learning Centre brands and evergreen licenses, we provide total toy solutions, capsule ranges, and individual items for retailers and other strategic partners, depending on their needs.
Addo Play is straightforward and professional and offers the best possible blue-chip service. Our team of global experts in product development and toy sourcing creates outstanding toys through intelligent, caring, and safe designs that are uniquely tooled.
Our toys’ exclusivity, differentiation, high sales velocity, and high retailer margin sets us apart. Our elevated and coherent ranges are based on retail sales data and insights, so we know what works.
This knowledge, combined with our exclusivity in our partners’ market, means retailers can control retail prices and margins and provide a differentiated toy offering compared to their competition — an unbeatable combination.
TB: Your private label brands are largely new to North America — Can you tell us about each of them?
AP: Addo and Early Learning Centre are complementary, elevated private-label toy brands, each with its own distinct personality.
Addo is our everyday toy brand that offers outstanding value. It’s a genuine alternative to major brands.
Early Learning Centre (ELC) is our globally trusted, one-stop shop for high-quality, timeless preschool toys. With over 50 years of expertise, ELC provides a guiding hand to support every child’s unique path of development and encourage learning through play.
Our brands are fresh, up-to-date, and aligned with today’s consumers. We have grown our toy portfolio to more than 1,000 products, including Addo, ELC, and, in recent years, multiple evergreen licenses.
Through these licensing partnerships, we offer high margins and points of difference on powerhouse brands like PAW Patrol and Barbie. Another example is our incredible success with Spin Master’s unique Fugglers property. We reinvented the brand, repositioned the price to be a true value, and made it accessible as collectibles, resulting in phenomenal global retail sales. We nurtured this brand and passed the torch to ZURU Toys, which has taken over global Fuggler plush toy licensing rights from Addo Play.
TB: Why should retailers stock ELC in a competitive preschool space?
AP: ELC’s timeless toys last for generations and have brought excitement to kids and families through learning and development for more than 50 years.
We acquired ELC in 2019 due to its uniquely designed, high-quality, durable, and affordable toys. This world-class, heritage preschool toy brand provides a guiding hand to support every development path, encouraging learning through play.
ELC is a complete and unmatched solution for retailers. It delivers unique products with a comprehensive range that inspire imagination and spark learning through play. Our products are affordable for families and sold at great margins by our retail partners.
TB: While you’re looking for U.S. retail partners, how is Addo Play’s international footprint?
AP: More than 24,000 stores sell our toys through an international network of strategic partners and distributors. They’re available in various retail channels, including independent specialty toy stores, grocers, department stores, mass retailers, hypermarkets, e-commerce platforms, and convenience stores.
We sell to partners in Canada, South America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. Some key retailers include The Entertainer Toy Shop, Tesco, Marks & Spencer (M&S), and Toys “R” Us Canada.
We’re very excited to make waves in the U.S. market as we build our brands here.
TB: You mentioned The Entertainer Toy Shop, which is familiar to our readers and friends in the UK but not well-known here in the States. Can you elaborate on the relationship? There is a compelling opportunity for a similar partnership with the right party in the U.S.
AP: Through its Exclusive Partnership Program, Addo Play functions as The Entertainer Group’s product development and toy manufacturing division. Addo Play Ltd. is part of TEAL Group Holdings, the parent company that owns all operating companies within The Entertainer Group.
The Entertainer is the fastest-growing toy retailer in Europe, operating more than 350 Toy specialty stores in the UK, the Republic of Ireland, and international markets through its franchise partners. The Entertainer also partners with Tesco, M&S, and Matalan to help run their toy departments. This relationship places Addo Play toys in more than 4,000 stores in the UK alone.
Earlier this year, The Entertainer and Tesco announced a partnership to sell toys in more than 850 Tesco stores across the UK and Ireland. As the UK’s No. 1 retailer and third largest worldwide, hundreds of thousands of Tesco customers can enjoy everyday access to exclusive Addo and ELC products.
As a sister company to The Entertainer, Addo Play’s product assortment is data-driven, using more than 40 years of specialty toy insight and a window into all the latest trends. All products comply with all relevant QA ethical and safety standards, which is advantageous to potential international customers as the products are ready to go with no capital investment from the partner.
TB: Tell us a bit about how business ethics are essential to your sustainability strategy.
AP: We are committed to making the planet a better place for every child, future generations, and the global communities we work with. Our strategy aims to deliver this commitment through sustainable product and packaging design, responsible business operations, ethical trading principles, community focus, and a caring, diverse, and inclusive organizational culture.
Addo Play works to exceed ethical expectations and safety standards through ground-up design. 100% of our large-scale manufacturing base was independently audited in alignment with globally recognized standards and certification programs, such as SMETA, BSCI, and the ICTI Ethical Toy Program.
Our team of compliance professionals has extensive toy industry expertise and ensures that all our toys meet international quality and safety standards for markets around the world. They also work in the U.S. and are conversant with CTPAT trade compliance.
Guided by our core values, we constantly challenge ourselves to find more intelligent business ways — ways that are positive and help society build a safer, more sustainable world for generations of children to come.
TB: How can interested retailers and distributors best engage with Addo Play?
AP: We’re happy to connect! Interested parties can email sales@addoplay.com to book a meeting.
The Toy Book team will be on the ground in Los Angeles for the LA Fall Preview Market Week, September 9-13, 2024. The Toy Book’s LA Fall Toy Preview Issue debuts Sept. 9 and can be picked up at The Toy Association’s space in El Segundo and the lounges at 1960 on Grand and OPEN.
