Inside Out

If the fourth quarter weren't busy enough for the nation's toy and video game retailers, several were occupied with launching new initiatives last month. On December 8, Toys “R” Us, Wayne, N.J., opened its first store in South Korea. The nearly 37,000-square-foot space, located at the Lotte Mart in Guro, is the largest toy store in the country, according to TRU, and will offer customers a broad assortment of toys, baby items, games and other children's products from around the world, a key point of differentiation in a market where, typically, only toys based on local characters are sold. The store is being operated under license by the Lotte Group. “We are delighted to partner with the Lotte Group to bring the World's Greatest Toy Store to South Korea,” said Jerry Storch, TRU chairman and CEO. “The addition of South Korea to our store portfolio extends our global reach to 36 countries and we look forward to future expansion as we continue to strengthen our international toy authority position.”

Closer to home, GameStop, Grapevine, Texas, announced on Dec. 11 the opening of its first combination store and tournament center at a 4,000-square-foot location in San Jose, Calif. The center boasts 24 networked gaming stations with plasma monitors, and is the first of several planned tournament-focused stores for the video game retailer. Tournament events will take place at the store most weekends, according to the company.

Wal-Mart planned to keep the holiday season going for the full 12 days of Christmas this year with a program targeting the Hispanic tradition of Three Kings Day, celebrated most frequently on January 6. For the second consecutive season, Wal-Mart stores in select markets featured Three Kings-themed festivities, including appearances by the Three Kings themselves, servings of Rosca de Reyes (a holiday bread) and traditional hot chocolate for its customers, and exclusive merchandise. Among the only-at-Wal-Mart toys offered during the period were special editions of Mattel's Rebelde RBD fashion dolls, based on the popular Latin television and music personalities, and Baby Abuelita Productions' Baby Abuelita soft dolls. Festivities officially began on Dec. 26.—Staff