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Regular-article-logo Wednesday, 13 May 2026

TOYS KEMP COMING TO TOWN 

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FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT Published 06.10.00, 12:00 AM
New Delhi, Oct 6 :    New Delhi, Oct 6:  Selling toys is no child's play for Ravi Melwani, managing partner of Kemp Fort. Melwani will be putting together a huge retail network of 500 Toys Kemp stores spread across the country over the next three years. 'Calcutta is going to have a 'Toys Kemp' before the year ends,' said Melwani. Speaking on the launch of the 'Toys Kemp' in New Delhi, Melwani said his chain of exclusive toy retail outlets expects to notch up a sales turnover of Rs 500 crore in two years. As of now 'Toys Kemp' includes 13 outlets, one each in Delhi, Indore and Coimbatore, three in Chennai and six in Bangalore. According to Melwani, Kemp Fort Bangalore is still India's largest store with a floor space of 3 lakh square feet. 'Toys Kemp' was set up as part of Kemp Fort Group, Bangalore three years ago. Apart from toys, Kemp Fort stocks fashion wear for men, women and children, international cosmetic brands, perfumes, watches, jewellry and crockery. This year Kemp Fort expects a turnover of Rs 100 crore. Sixty five per cent of toys at Toys Kemp are going to be imported and the rest will be sourced from domestic manufacturers, said Melwani. The toys are priced as low as Rs 25 and go on to a pretty steep Rs 25,000. 'However, a large section of our toys are within Rs 500 as our research has shown that parents in India do not spend exorbitant sums on toys', said Melwani. And the toys? Well it is quite a wonderland.An apparent Pepsi can turns out to be a camera in disguise.Two beer bottles turn out to be a pair of binoculars. There is a Barbie point of sale cash register where credit cards can be cashed and scanned respectively. There is a Barbie phone which resembles a regular EPABX system. Cameras, tape recorders, binoculars,EPABX, CD-Roms...are we talking of toys? Well it is the age of convergence, you see. Some of the international brands at 'Toys Kemp' includes Mattel, Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher Price, Hasbro, Tiger, Lego, and Binny & Smith. Toys Kemp includes wares in 15 sub Kemps. Some of these are Action Kemp, Magic Kemp, Tinsy Kemp, Pre-school kemp and Remote control car Kemp toys. The Delhi outlet is 800 square feet but it soon plans to expand to 15,000 square feet.The Mumbai outlet will open next week. 'We are dependent on our franchisee partners for the real estate,' says Melwani. The company has no plans to enter manufacturing. Melwani takes pride in the fact that his company had launched the retailing revolution for children with 'Big Kids Kemp, the mega store for kidswear.    
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