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Store of Knowledge Inc.
Business: Educational products retailer
Location: Cerritos
Revenue Growth: 340%
Store of Knowledge is on the fast track thanks to a clever marketing strategy and a mix of educational products that has found a major niche among lovers of public television.
The 5-year-old company uses the advertising power of public TV stations to get the word out. It owns a group of mall-based stores that are affiliated with local stations, which promote them and in return get a percentage usually 1 percent of the revenues and a small piece of the equity in their affiliated stores. Each store bears the call letters of the station such as the KCET Store of Knowledge in the Santa Monica Place mall.
The Cerritos-based retailer will have opened 16 new stores by the end of the year, bringing its total locations to 68 nationwide and six in Los Angeles County.
Company officials say they have sustained consistent growth because of a targeted real estate strategy and aggressive marketing.
“We open up in good malls and in good locations, attracting a wide variety of customers,” said Paul Gainer, vice president and general merchandise manager. “We also have a lot of events that draw parents and children into the store.”
Gainer said the merchandise also has crossover appeal to all generations. About 50 percent of the products tie into the shows aired on the stations hot sellers include toys based on the antenna-headed Teletubbies, and books and notecards related to the Ken Burns and Lynn Novick documentary, “Frank Lloyd Wright.”
“We have lots of interactive products for kids and adults,” Gainer said. “They can touch, feel. The toys engage them and keep them longer. Our average customer stay is 30 to 45 minutes, which is a tremendous amount of time in the specialty store business.”
John Olinski, a consumer products analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities, said the company has created a niche, providing fun and education simultaneously. “I see more competition out there, but Store of Knowledge got into the arena earlier, and that’s important in establishing themselves as a brand,” Olinski said.
Nola L. Sarkisian
