/ 10 September 2005

US toymaker marks 75th year

Marking the 75th anniversary of one of the United States’s biggest toymakers, the quiet, leafy suburb of East Aurora in New York declared Friday ”Fisher-Price Day”.

Toymaker Fisher-Price has been a colourful neighbour in East Aurora since its incorporation on September 9 1930, churning out the staples of preschoolers’ toy boxes: from the stacking rings in their primary colours to villages of Little People and Rescue Heroes.

”What started off with a very small company making wood toys with a little bit of action today is the number-one preschool company in the world,” president Neil Friedman said, ”and I think that is due to the values and the culture of the people here in East Aurora that work at this company.”

”This is a family-oriented community, not a big city,” said Bob Eckert, chairperson and chief executive of Los Angeles-based parent Mattel. ”I think when you look at the products that are developed here, it’s with full recognition of the interaction between parents and their children and what parents are trying to get their children to do.”

Inside the Fisher-Price headquarters, Eckert points to a musical learning chair meant to teach babies things such as colours and shapes from a smiling perch.

”From the kids’ standpoint, it’s entertainment. From the parents’ standpoint, it’s developmental and educational,” Eckert said, ”and Fisher-Price uniquely understands that relationship in the toy business.”

The executives said holding true to the values of company founders Herm Fisher, Irving Price and Helen Schelle — creativity, sturdiness and play value — while keeping up with technology and trends has been a formula for success. Fisher-Price had gross sales of $1,9-billion worldwide in 2004, up 8% from the year before. Sales have continued to climb in 2005.

Friedman said the company’s preschool audience offers one advantage in the days of what he called ”k-goy” — kids getting older younger.

”They don’t get younger than zero to five,” he said. ”They still have to learn and develop, so the basic development and early learning is the same.

”How we deliver it is really different, because we deliver it with innovation and new technologies that allow the child to get a much better experience with their toys.” — Sapa-AP