A leading toy brand is making a beeline for the shelves of retail colossus Tesco, starting this month. The Entertainer is primed to introduce a handpicked selection of its popular toy products across more than 2,010 Tesco Express stores, offering customers an array of choices. With price tags ranging from £1.50 to £7, the varied selection spans top brands like Hot Wheels, TY and Addo.
Expressing his enthusiasm about the rollout, Andrew Murphy OBE, group chief executive officer of The Entertainer remarked: “We are thrilled to enlarge our successful partnership with Tesco by introducing our ranges to their convenience-format stores – putting even more of Tesco’s shoppers within easy reach of our outstanding toy offer.” He elaborated: “One year in, our collaboration with Tesco has delivered everything we’d hoped for. We look forward to building on these great foundations with such a supportive and accomplished partner and to further demonstrate the strength and versatility of our ‘Toy Box’ retail solution for multi-category retailers,” reports Birmingham Live.
This expansion of The Entertainer’s presence follows the supermarket giant’s prior move to incorporate The Entertainer’s wares in 850 of its larger outlets nationwide.
Tesco’s earlier foray into toys is said to have produced 1,200 jobs during the rollout across various locations in England and Wales.
As per Tesco’s account, the preceding growth spurt was accomplished within a swift eight months, achieving an impressive rate of roughly 100 new concessions each month.
The collaboration between the supermarket and The Entertainer has proven to be a win-win, with the toy retailer reporting that its partnership with the brand has expanded its presence to more than triple the number of UK and Ireland locations compared to any other toy dealership.
This isn’t the first time the supermarket has joined forces with big names; in November 2023, it introduced Paperchase products after the stationery chain went into administration, acquiring rights to revive the beloved brand on its shelves in time for the festive season.
Pauline Chisholm, head of strategy and partnerships at Tesco, expressed excitement about the expansion of their partnership with The Entertainer to include Express stores, saying: “We are delighted to bring easy access to great toys for every budget to even more customers by extending our partnership with The Entertainer to include our Express stores.”
She added, “We are confident that our customers will appreciate the chance to pick up some of the latest and most popular toys close to home, as well as in our large stores.”