The Moodie Davitt Report sat down (virtually) with LEGO Group Head of Expansion and Training Sebastian Alt to discuss the company’s ambitions in the Americas and its participation in the upcoming Summit of the Americas — A Virtual Experience.
“The Americas business is very important to the LEGO Group. It is one of our key growth drivers with endless opportunities.” So says LEGO Group Head of Expansion and Training Sebastian Alt as he prepares to showcase the company’s latest product innovations at the upcoming Summit of the Americas — A Virtual Experience (5-9 April).
“We are looking forward to e-meeting retailers and landlords from the Americas and from all travel retail channels at the Summit of the Americas,” Alt adds.
LEGO Group will be highlighting new product novelties from its LEGO, DUPLO, LEGO City, LEGO Friends and LEGO NINJAGO lines at the pioneering event.
This is in addition to debuting new, yet to be revealed, brand collaborations, following the company’s successful partnerships with Nintendo for the ‘Adventures of LEGO Super Mario’ and with Ducati for the ‘Ducati Panigale V4 R’ in 2020.
Last year, LEGO Group partnered with Marshall Retail Group to open its first airport store in the US at Salt Lake City International Airport, signalling the beginning of the group’s expansion plans in the region.
However, while LEGO Group focuses on enhancing digital innovation, Alt says that the brick & mortar airport store is more important than ever. “In addition to meeting commercial objectives, airports are increasingly looking to develop a stronger identity aligned to their brand and passenger profile,” he says. “This is where we believe the LEGO Airport Store can play a vital role.
“The LEGO Airport Stores engage the shopper, reignite childhood memories and bring a smile to their faces. Plus, there is always something new and exciting at our stores. Apart from that, we are also looking for new opportunities within the cruise channel and can’t wait for cruise lines to set sail again.”
Commenting on how travel retail can engage with consumers to drive a sustained recovery, Alt says, “Travel retail needs to creating an engaging and safe shopping environment, which will be key to success in the near future. I believe that we will see a growing business compared to 2020. However, we don’t expect the real take off to happen before late summer this year.”
Alt also illustrates how LEGO Group products can help bring families together by reigniting memories and inspiring child-like wonder (a lovely sentiment during these difficult times).
Alt says, “During the first half of 2020, we have seen our investments in long-term growth initiatives such as ecommerce and product innovation pay off.
“Our strong portfolio appeals to builders of all ages and we attracted new builders who turned to LEGO play to help them through difficult times. More families are playing and learning together with LEGO bricks and we are seeing more adults than ever before enjoying building our more challenging sets.”
