"Bringing Playtime Back to the City" - Thalia's Acquisition Spree of Toy Stores
Toy retail chain, controlled by Thalia, expands significantly with acquisition of multiple toy store locations.
Get ready, city centers! Bookstore giant Thalia is leaping into a new venture, snapping up 39 toy stores from Krömer and Toysino chains starting October 1st. All stores and jobs will remain intact, Thalia announced, and the Krömer brothers will establish a "new wave of toy retail" within Thalia's empire. The financial details of the deal are kept under wraps.
Thalia's claws are reaching out for 18 Krömer stores in Bavaria and 21 branches of Toysino spreading nationwide. The deal needs to pass antitrust authorities before it's official. Thalia currently operates 394 bookstores in Germany and Austria, along with a bustling online shop, and is entangled in around 60 bookstores of the Orell Füssli Thalia AG in Switzerland.
Ingo Kretzschmar, Thalia's CEO, pounced on the chance to expand toy segment dominance. Thalia has beefed up its toy selection in stores and online in recent years, but this time, they're going all in by taking over the toy stores. This strategic move is also a social statement—fighting the rising tide of toy stores vacating city centers and holding the fort in urban spaces as anchor points.
Christian Krömer, key player in this game, explained that the prospect of growing together, combining their strengths, and leveraging Thalia's infrastructure sealed the deal. "The melding of our toy expertise and Thalia's powerful infrastructure will reap benefits for our customers and secure a prosperous future for our teams."
Back in 1984, Sylvia and Jürgen Krömer gave birth to toy chain Krömer in Schrobenhausen. In 2000, Krömer welcomed a second store in Aichach, setting the stage for further expansion. Jürgen's sons, Christian and Daniel, hopped on board to steer the ship towards success. Since 2023, the dynamic duo of Krömer brothers have also taken the helm at Toysino GmbH, which inherited Mytoys.de's physical stores in October 2023.
In today’s retail landscape, with traditional city center stores on the decline, stakes are high. Acquisitions like these could be a stringent tactic to survive and thrive in this challenging environment. Don't be surprised if more retail biggies start following suit, bringing the city centers back to life, one toy store at a time.
Thalia's acquisition spree of toy stores, including those from the Kromer and Toysino chains, will not only heighten their dominance in the toy segment but also serve as anchor points for urban spaces, following the trend of vacating city centers by toy stores (Community policy, employment policy, employment policy, employment policy, employment policy, employment policy, employment policy). By combining their toy expertise with Thalia's powerful infrastructure, the Kromer brothers aim to create a new wave of toy retail, anticipating mutual benefits for their customers and teams within the dynamic retail industry (industry, finance, retail, business).
