Child World - Beginnings and Early Expansion

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.