Lego Toy Store

[jjeanette]

Hello everyone,

I have seen some photos of Lego stores, not the ones owned or run by Lego, but privately owned, Toy Stores that only sell Lego products. And I am wondering if there is some sort of rule about these types of stores, I have seen posts about them in countries outside of the USA, but none in the USA. Any information anyone could give would be very useful.

 

Thank you in advance

Jason

[Jeff Mack]

There is really no rule about them.  You are just on your own.  LEGO has a bunch of rules if you are going to be a reseller through them.  If you have some specific questions, that may be easier to help you find the answer you are looking for.

[DadsAFOL]

You are probably referring to something called a "monobrand" store.  These are only in countries that don't have a LBR (Lego Brand Retail) store, and are sort of a franchise.  Some countries have restrictive rules about foreign companies opening businesses, so local businesses are partnered with.  Or challenges with product import that a native business can overcome.  Or a market just too small to be worthwhile for Lego to support directly.  There are none in the US, nor will there ever be any.

[jjeanette]

39 minutes ago, DadsAFOL said:

You are probably referring to something called a "monobrand" store.  These are only in countries that don't have a LBR (Lego Brand Retail) store, and are sort of a franchise.  Some countries have restrictive rules about foreign companies opening businesses, so local businesses are partnered with.  Or challenges with product import that a native business can overcome.  Or a market just too small to be worthwhile for Lego to support directly.  There are none in the US, nor will there ever be any.

So if I wanted to open a "Toy" store that only sold Lego product, I wouldn't be able to? I can understand why, there are plenty of retail stores that sell Lego, but I was hoping to either find a store or down the line open one, that specialized in harder to find sets, and / or single minifigs. I was picturing a comic book store, but for Lego.

[DadsAFOL]

No chance in the US, unfortunately. If you have a brick and mortar toy store with 2+ years in business, you might get a wholesale account. But the requirements are that more than half your sales have to be non-Lego items. They won't let you compete directly. And you have to carry the whole product line and generally wait for 6 months after TRU to get new releases.

[conceptmachine]

When I get to about 55 (11 years til retirement) I plan on selling my legos along with all my other vintage toys in my shop.  Good luck,  hope it works out well for you.

[justapilgrim]

Wrong, you can do it I'm the US, you just can't go through Lego directly

[Jeff Mack]

On 11/13/2015, 10:09:24, DadsAFOL said:

No chance in the US, unfortunately. If you have a brick and mortar toy store with 2+ years in business, you might get a wholesale account. But the requirements are that more than half your sales have to be non-Lego items. They won't let you compete directly. And you have to carry the whole product line and generally wait for 6 months after TRU to get new releases.

What about places like Bricks and Minifigs?  They have a number of shops open.

[conceptmachine]

Open one by me, I'll be the bread and butter.  I'm so tired if sending back damaged sets.  I'd think amazon/wallys/target would be tired if it too!!

[DadsAFOL]

27 minutes ago, Jeff Mack said:

What about places like Bricks and Minifigs?  They have a number of shops open.

I don't have one by me, but I've seen a similar store open and fail (sadly) in my area.  I don't believe they have an ITD account.  If they do, they were probably grandfathered in from years ago, or have partnered with someone that already had an ITD account.

[asharerin]

There are no rules in the USA about operating a privately owned business reselling Lego either online, brick and mortar, or both. Just don't infringe upon IP and use "Lego" in your business name or deceptively advertise or imply that you are an authorized Lego distributor.

While Lego can request certain online platforms not to allow the sale of their goods unless from a verified authorized distributor and those platforms may choose to comply in the future, they have no power over your own brick and mortar or website in the USA.

[legoray01]

The Robot Garage 

http://www.therobotgarage.com/

It is the closest thing I have seen to a privately held Lego Store.  Large focus on Robotics (Mindstorms) but they have a retail space dedicated to Lego as well.