Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer • Hacker News Board

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#31

Post by kerkeslager » Thu, Sep 05, 2019, 2:47 AM UTC

RandallBrown wrote: post #14

chrisseaton wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At least the "techy" parts don't have assigned desks. Can’t tell if you think that’s a good thing or you’re being sarcastic?

I personally loved the office I worked in with no assigned desks. We didn't even do work on personal computers. (We had pair programming stations) To each their own of course. Not everyone has to like working at every company. I've never been unhappier than when I was in my own personal office.

Same.

I think of workspaces as "introverted" and "extroverted" and I think it's a mistake to say one is inherently better than the other. The reality is that the best workspace is the one that fulfills the needs of the team using it.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#32

Post by duxup » Thu, Sep 05, 2019, 3:24 AM UTC

In my experience the actual Lego stores ... are terrible price wise. Everything is solidly MSRP, I've yet to see a good sale from them.

Sales online and local retail shops are far better pricing wise.

Although I've visited the local Lego store, I don't really need to visit to get a good feel for a given product, and the prices mean I don't buy anything.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#33

Post by ebg13 » Thu, Sep 05, 2019, 3:31 AM UTC

jncraton wrote: post #24

IMO LEGO thrives thanks to their relentless focus on product quality. The phrase "det bedste ir ikke for godt" (roughly "only the best is good enough") has a long history in the company. The fact that they have been able to thrive like this in a market with many competitors cloning their product is a a testament to their product quality and related brand strength. If you've used and compared the various brands in thi…

> IMO LEGO thrives thanks to their relentless focus on product quality.

I'm sure that doesn't hurt, but these days LEGO thrives because of their relentless promotional brand tie-ins. It's not just LEGO anymore. It's LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Batman, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Disney's Frozen, LEGO Toy Story 4, and so on.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#34

Post by nickwegner » Thu, Sep 05, 2019, 3:46 AM UTC

northwest65 wrote: post #19

keithnz wrote: post #17

Here in NZ we are about to get our very first Lego shop https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/money/2019/07/lego-store-comi... which luckily for me, is a 5 minute walk away from my work! Earlier this year my son (8) and I really enjoyed watching the Australian Lego Masters TV competition. https://www.thebrickman.com/lego-masters-australia/

That ability for adults and children to share in the fun has got to be part of their success; that and customers that potentially never grow out of the product.

I really look forward to taking my son and two daughters to our local store. All three kids are really different but they always find something that interests them. I love helping them put the sets together too.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#35

Post by jncraton » Thu, Sep 05, 2019, 3:53 AM UTC

ebg13 wrote: post #33

jncraton wrote: post #24

IMO LEGO thrives thanks to their relentless focus on product quality. The phrase "det bedste ir ikke for godt" (roughly "only the best is good enough") has a long history in the company. The fact that they have been able to thrive like this in a market with many competitors cloning their product is a a testament to their product quality and related brand strength. If you've used and compared the various brands in thi…

> IMO LEGO thrives thanks to their relentless focus on product quality. I'm sure that doesn't hurt, but these days LEGO thrives because of their relentless promotional brand tie-ins. It's not just LEGO anymore. It's LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Batman, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Disney's Frozen, LEGO Toy Story 4, and so on.

You aren't wrong, but the two are tightly related. LEGO's competitors are also selling many licensed products, but LEGO's position as the best quality brand in the market has allowed them to secure contracts for the most popular IP (Star Wars, Marvel, Minecraft, etc). Their competitors are left with less popular or less family-friendly IP such as Halo or Star Trek.

Its also worth noting that some of LEGO's competitors don't worry too much about IP laws. You can buy a clone brand X-wing for 50% of the cost of the genuine set, but the quality is significantly lower in my experience.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#36

Post by TylerE » Thu, Sep 05, 2019, 3:57 AM UTC

jncraton wrote: post #35

ebg13 wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> IMO LEGO thrives thanks to their relentless focus on product quality. I'm sure that doesn't hurt, but these days LEGO thrives because of their relentless promotional brand tie-ins. It's not just LEGO anymore. It's LEGO Star Wars, LEGO Batman, LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Disney's Frozen, LEGO Toy Story 4, and so on.

You aren't wrong, but the two are tightly related. LEGO's competitors are also selling many licensed products, but LEGO's position as the best quality brand in the market has allowed them to secure contracts for the most popular IP (Star Wars, Marvel, Minecraft, etc). Their competitors are left with less popular or less family-friendly IP such as Halo or Star Trek. Its also worth noting that some of LEGO's competitor…

Part of that is that LEGO has a policy against making any models including guns.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#37

Post by torgian » Thu, Sep 05, 2019, 4:00 AM UTC

RandallBrown wrote: post #14

chrisseaton wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> At least the "techy" parts don't have assigned desks. Can’t tell if you think that’s a good thing or you’re being sarcastic?

I personally loved the office I worked in with no assigned desks. We didn't even do work on personal computers. (We had pair programming stations) To each their own of course. Not everyone has to like working at every company. I've never been unhappier than when I was in my own personal office.

Pair programming stations? That actually sounds really cool if you’re in the right frame of mind

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#38

Post by lnsru » Thu, Sep 05, 2019, 4:02 AM UTC

LEGO is doing very well and spending a lot: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-06-28/legoland-...

As a parent I don’t see many competition for LEGO: Duplo for toddlers, LEGO for kids, Mindstorms to teach kids programming, Technic for older kids. No soldering needed and can be used in relatively small apartments. And quality is a big topic here - LEGO uses molding equipment with pressure sensors, so they all bricks are the same. Cheap knockoffs frustrate kids, because every brick is different and sometimes one can’t join them at all. And you can build anything you want with couple sets since LEGO provides all the instructions online!

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#39

Post by Larrikin » Thu, Sep 05, 2019, 4:19 AM UTC

TylerE wrote: post #36

jncraton wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You aren't wrong, but the two are tightly related. LEGO's competitors are also selling many licensed products, but LEGO's position as the best quality brand in the market has allowed them to secure contracts for the most popular IP (Star Wars, Marvel, Minecraft, etc). Their competitors are left with less popular or less family-friendly IP such as Halo or Star Trek. Its also worth noting that some of LEGO's competitor…

Part of that is that LEGO has a policy against making any models including guns.

I read this, believed it, and repeated it to a friend in a Lego store. My friend then pointed out that there are tons of models with guns and many other weapons. I think the actual policy is that their original nonlicensed models don't feature modern day guns or military vehicles, but they are totally fine making models with guns and weapons of war so long as they are from the fantasy world or they are not modern.

Re: Lego to open 160 new stores as other toy retailers suffer

#40

Post by RandallBrown » Thu, Sep 05, 2019, 4:36 AM UTC

gojomo wrote: post #15

There's also a chain of unofficial Lego-only stores, with new and used items, called "Bricks and Minifigs": https://bricksandminifigs.com/ Noticed their Concord, CA (east Bay area) store from the highway a while back, and while I haven't been inside yet, was surprised to see they've got 20+ locations in the US and Canada.

Had no idea that was a chain. Saw one open up a few years ago in the somewhat small town of Monroe WA. It's far enough outside of Seattle that I wouldn't expect it to be thriving, but it's apparently still there.

The store was really cool.