Express' Success

Last year marked a milestone in the history of Learning Express. The nation's largest chain of franchised specialty toy stores marked its 20th anniversary—or more accurately, didn't mark it. With so many stores in different stages of their own histories, commemorating Learning Express' collective one is more difficult than one might would think.

“We didn't have a single festivity,” founder Sharon DiMinico explains. “The issue is, in a franchise system it's harder to implement a nationwide event. Each store is its own business so if they don't feel like doing something, they don't. It's a pretty entrepreneurial franchise system. That has some really big pluses, that's for sure, but when it comes time to do anything nationwide, it becomes more of a challenge.”

Adds DiMinico, “We did create a 20th anniversary banner that we included on all our advertising, but when we talked about doing a big splash for the 20th, some of the stores on our advisory committees said, 'Well, I just opened 7 months ago, so 20 years to my customers doesn't really mean anything.'”

And while such discussions were going on back at the home office, out in the field, business was booming. DiMinico says Learning Express' business overall for all its franchises was up almost 15 percent in 2007.

Looking forward, DiMinico predicts “conservative growth,” for Learning Express, including 26 stores scheduled to open in 2008. “We focus not necessarily on the total sales or amount of stores we open,” she says. “What's important to me is same-store sales and same-store growth.” In 2007, average store sales were $925,000, a $100,000 gain from 2006. “We were really trying to hit a $1 million,” she says. “We only have 26 people [at the corporate office] working on trying to move that number up. You have to have the right products and the right marketing to be able to do that.”

It also takes the right people. DiMinico says that one of the most noticeable changes at Learning Express in the 20 years since it began is just who the people are who make the best franchisees.

“If you would have asked me when I first started this business what my ideal demographic for a potential owner would be, quite honestly, I would have said it was somebody who had an early education background,” she says. “But the reality is that it wasn't that person at all. It's usually middle to upper level executives who were downsized and want to control their own destiny, or are looking for a lifestyle change.”

DiMinico says Learning Express hopes to continue to open 20 to 30 stores a year nationwide. To help do it, the company recently hired a dedicated franchise sales person. “We're beyond the critical point of store count—if we open 5 stores or 30 stores, we just want them to be the right stores,” DiMinico says. “Bigger isn't necessarily better.”