Beginnings and Early Expansion
After the acquisition of Children's Palace, Child World became the second largest toy retailer in the United States after Toys "R" Us, its chief competitor. In many areas Child World stores were operated close to Toys "R" Us locations, as in Framingham, Massachusetts (see below), Milford, Connecticut, Warwick, Rhode Island, East Haven, Connecticut, Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania, Henrietta, New York, Cincinnati, Ohio, Indianapolis, Indiana, Eatontown, New Jersey, and Totowa, New Jersey.
Child World also began incorporating elements of the Children's Palace store design into its stores that opened post-merger, with many of the new stores taking on a castle-like design (see below).
In 1981 the chain was acquired by Cole National Corporation, a retail ownership group that is now a division of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.
Into the early 1990s, Child World was led by then-President Peter Hayes. The chain was known for, largely, a 'warehouse' style of merchandising, with long aisles and so-called "over-stock" storage above selling-floor-level shelves.
Although sales had begun to decline by the late 1980s, in 1989 the chain announced a new 29,000 sq ft (2,700 m2) store prototype designed to appeal to customers and real estate developers alike. The first store remodeled into the new prototype was in Framingham, Massachusetts, near the Shoppers World mall and key competitor Toys "R" Us, just one block away. Initially, the prototype was well-received, with strong first-day openings, and good performance in the critical Christmas selling season. Owing partly to that success, Child World management announced that the new prototype would be used to renovate 11 existing sites, and new market expansion would be targeted in 1990, 1991 and 1992 using the new design. However, Child World would not have the chance to implement the design, as problems began to arise.
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Famous quotes containing the words beginnings, early and/or expansion:
“These beginnings of commerce on a lake in the wilderness are very interesting,—these larger white birds that come to keep company with the gulls.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It was common practice for me to take my children with me whenever I went shopping, out for a walk in a white neighborhood, or just felt like going about in a white world. The reason was simple enough: if a black man is alone or with other black men, he is a threat to whites. But if he is with children, then he is harmless, adorable.”
—Gerald Early (20th century)
“The fundamental steps of expansion that will open a person, over time, to the full flowering of his or her individuality are the same for both genders. But men and women are rarely in the same place struggling with the same questions at the same age.”
—Gail Sheehy (20th century)