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Newest LEGO creation opening at Ala Moana
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
One of the biggest toy makers in the world — LEGO Group — plans to open a store
at Ala Moana Center, (Honolulu, Hawai’i) chock full of the small plastic
construction play bricks.
The LEGO Store is scheduled to open July 29 at the mall near Sears in part of
the space formerly occupied by Island Snow on the main level.
The 2,604-square-foot store is part of a reinvigorated retail expansion plan by
the Danish toy company, which has about 30 U.S. LEGO stores in 19 states and
expects to open nine stores this year.
Julie Stern, a LEGO spokeswoman, said Hawai’i was an attractive market because
of a considerable number of residents who are among 2.1 million subscribers to
the LEGO Club magazine.
“We’re really looking for the markets that have a lot of LEGO kids and LEGO
families, and Hawai’i is one of those markets,” she said.
Nelson Yrizarry, co-founder of the LEGO Enthusiasts Association of Hawai’i, said
the store will expose hobbyists and general consumers to LEGO sets and pieces
not available in local stores that carry limited supplies of LEGO products.
“I think it’s fantastic,” he said of the planned store. “There has been a
growing interest in LEGO products all over the world, and having a store right
here in Hawai’i will appeal to both local fans and visitors.”
To help promote the store, LEGO plans a grand opening on Aug. 14 with events
that are slated to include one of LEGO master builders, Dan Steininger,
constructing surfboards at the mall’s Center Stage area. The public is invited
to participate in Steininger’s work, which is expected to start at 11 a.m. on
Aug. 14 and continue over the next two days until 6 p.m. Aug. 16.
On Aug. 15, LEGO is offering the first 300 customers who spend at least $35 in
the store that day a free specially designed LEGO set to construct a
humuhumunukunukuapua’a (top secret) and coral.
LEGO Group, a privately owned family business based in Billund, Denmark, is the
world’s largest construction toymaker. The company reported about $1.8 billion
in sales last year.
The company opened its first LEGO store in 1992 at the Mall of America in
Minneapolis. But building the chain was put on hold about 10 years later, after
limited growth, to focus on the company’s core business of developing and
distributing merchandise.
LEGO resumed its effort to open more LEGO stores about three years ago. All the
stores, except for three flagship locations near Disneyland, Disney World and at
the Mall of America, are known as “yellow stores” for their predominant color
scheme.
The typical store houses about 4 million bricks. Stores also feature a play
area, model displays typically from professional builders and hobby groups like
LEAHI — the LEGO Enthusiasts Association of Hawai’i — and a wall with pieces
available in bulk by the cup.
Like some other LEGO stores, the Hawai’i store will host children’s birthday
parties, though not immediately after opening.
The bulk sale wall, known as the pick-a-brick wall, will be especially useful to
Roy Gal, a LEAHI member and assistant astronomer at the University of Hawai’i’s
Institute for Astronomy who has accumulated an impressive collection of bricks
over 14 years as a serious LEGO builder.
“It’s a resource for us because we are always looking to buy more parts,” said
Gal, who estimates he has the equivalent of three or four 4-foot-high filing
cabinets filled with LEGO pieces in his Waikiki apartment. “It’s cheaper by the
cupful.”
Honoluluadvertiser.com
-end of report-
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