Founder Ellia Kassoff said on LinkedIn that pushing the launch back will allow the company to restart with as “few missteps as possible”.
Earlier this year, it was reported that KB Toys was planning a return to the marketplace. The retailer was looking at opening 400-600 seasonal pop-up stores for 2018, with the goal of opening 600-800 permanent stores within 3-4 years.
However, founder Ellia Kassof took to LinkedIn over the weekend to announce that the restart was being pushed back to 2019.
Ellia commented: “We wanted to give you an update on where we are with the restart of @kbtoysstore. Currently our full strategy is in-place as-well-as our team. We’re REALLY excited to move forward, but with as few missteps as possible. With that said, we decided to move the restart for Kay Bee Toys to 2019. This will give us plenty of time to build out the most optimum supply chain, distribution and retail infrastructure our customers deserve. We’ve heard from so many of you and we don’t want to let you down! The last thing we need is to rush and have the customer experience not live up to expectations. Our goal is not just to bring Kay Bee Toys back, but to create the most amazing experiences for our customers, while improving many aspects of toy retailing business. You won’t see us as a seasonal store, instead we intend to be your year-round neighborhood toy store where we can help build those amazing memories and experiences you miss from current toy retailers. We’re also looking for additional funding so if you are an investor, we would love to hear from you.”
Prior to folding as a result of dealings with Bain Capital Partners, KB operated under many variations of its name, including K.B Toys, K.B Toys Outlet, K.B Toy Works and Kay-Bee Toys between 1922 and 2009.