Santa’s elves set up workshop in El Segundo with | Real Estate news

It’s only September, but the world’s toymakers and designers are converging on El Segundo this week for an industry convention to determine on the most well liked toys for next yr.

The metropolis has long been a hub for the toy industry as firms like to set up store in the shadow of Mattel, the maker of Barbie. This week, the industry opened a new tower of toys, an workplace advanced that includes 65 showrooms for toy firms to showcase their merchandise and talk about design with their wholesale clients.

In his toy-filled suite with sprawling views of the business neighborhood close to LAX, Italian toy maker Matteo Sarnari ready for the approaching fall onslaught of skilled patrons he hopes will buy his wares in bulk.

Sarnari is a business developer for academic toy creator Clementoni, which was established in a small Italian village in 1963 and just lately established a U.S. division to transfer into the American market.

“Of course, this is the most important market in the world,” Sarnari said, 41 occasions greater than the Italian market where Clementoni sells academic toys. “The opportunity here is huge.”

The company has licenses to make “Harry Potter” and “Stranger Things”-themed puzzles, becoming a member of its line of board video games, science toys and musical toys for small youngsters.

Clementoni’s El Segundo beachhead is the new Toy Building, which was opened on Monday by the Toy Assn., a commerce group for U.S. toy firms.

While the February Toy Fair in New York is the industry’s largest annual event, the El Segundo toy showroom building is the only one in the nation that operates year-round.

Toy Assn. President Greg Ahearn poses for a portrait at the Toy Building.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

Los Angeles is a major hub of the U.S. toy industry, said Toy Assn. President Greg Ahearn. Many toy firms are headquartered or have a vital presence right here.

Among the big gamers are Chatsworth-based MGA Entertainment, the company behind Bratz and L.O.L. Surprise! dolls, Canadian toy and leisure company Spin Master and Santa Monica’s Jakks Pacific, a maker of licensed toys such as Sonic the Hedgehog.

The headquarters of industry giant Mattel is a short stroll from the Toy Building and looms large in the views from the renovated Nineteen Seventies workplace building in a neighborhood that used to home more aerospace firms.

The Toy Building on Wednesday in El Segundo.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

As aerospace has scaled back since the end of the Cold War, El Segundo has emerged as a hub for many artistic companies, including toys.

The metropolis is “incredibly convenient” to the toy industry and people who do business with them, Ahearn said, because it’s close to Los Angeles International Airport and a number of large and small toy firms are positioned there. Among them are the U.S. workplace of Moose Toys, an Australian maker of collectible mini-figures.

“El Segundo represents the greatest concentration of toy manufacturers in the U.S.,” he said.

Toys are a large business — the industry generated $42 billion in gross sales in the U.S. last yr. Sales remained flat in contrast with the earlier yr.

The opening of the Toy Building coincides with the annual fall preview of toys producers hope might be on Christmas want lists the next yr, he said. “That’s how far ahead our industry works.”

Clementoni child toys are displayed in their new showroom at the Toy Building.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

At the autumn preview, retailers and licensors of toys such as Paramount, Universal and Disney be a part of others in the toy business to “descend on Los Angeles to actually see product that is going to be available for holiday 2026,” Ahearn said.

Licensed toys are a large class, he said, as big leisure suppliers serve up branded fare such as Star Wars motion figures, SpongeBob SquarePants plush toys and Paw Patrol toddler tricycles.

Even online media personalities such as MrBeast and Ms. Rachel have toy traces.

“All of them usually have some level of toy licensing and merchandising that is available to consumers as part of their plan,” Ahearn said.

A Clementoni model “Pen Creator Studio” toy is displayed in a new showroom at the Toy Building.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

The Toy Building’s 4 flooring had been designed to serve as a “mini convention center” for the industry working year-round, said Nelson Algaze, chief govt of SAA Interiors + Architecture, which created the space.

It has 65 showrooms and is so far home to such manufacturers as Crayola, Funko and Hasbro. Each ground has about 20,000 sq. ft and most of the showrooms are between 625 and 2,500 sq. ft. The showrooms are almost 70% leased.

Although it has lounges and assembly rooms, the Toy Building also has an aspect of secrecy not sometimes related with a conference facility as some toymakers keep their merchandise hidden from the competitors with boundaries that forestall passersby from seeing inside.

Photography is usually forbidden.

More immediately looming over the industry is the fallout from President Trump’s tariffs on imported items, that are anticipated to drive up the associated fee of toys.

In April, the Toy Assn. urged the U.S. authorities to grant an speedy reprieve from tariffs on toys imported from China to keep them on retail cabinets and obtainable for the vacation season.

“As we move into the critical holiday season, there is now some trepidation with what the impact of tariffs is ultimately going to be,” Ahearn said.

Toys are displayed in Clementoni’s new showroom at the Toy Building.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)