KB Toys, also known as K·B Toys, was an American retail chain that sold toys in malls. The company was started in 1922 as Kaufman Brothers, a business that sold candy to other stores. In 1946, the company opened a store that sold toys wholesale and stopped selling candy two years later to focus on toys. The company began selling toys directly to customers in the 1970s under the name Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby.

In 1999, KB Toys operated 1,324 stores across the United States and was the second-largest toy retailer in the country. However, the company faced financial problems in the early 2000s, went bankrupt in 2004 and 2008, and closed all of its stores on February 9, 2009. At the time of its closure, the company had 461 stores remaining.

Toys "R" Us, an international toy retailer, bought the remaining parts of KB Toys, including its website, trademarks, and brand rights. In 2016, Strategic Marks, a company that buys and revives old brands, purchased the KB Toys brand. Strategic Marks planned to open new stores using the name starting in 2019, but the plan was canceled because the company did not have enough money.

History

Brothers Harry and Joseph Kaufman started a wholesale candy store called Kaufman Brothers in Pittsfield, Massachusetts, on April 1, 1922. In the 1940s, the brothers bought a wholesale toy company from a candy customer who owed them money for unpaid debts. On September 21, 1946, Kaufman Brothers opened a wholesale toy store at 70 Columbus Avenue in Pittsfield, beginning the company’s work in the wholesale toy business. In 1948, Kaufman Brothers Inc. stopped selling candy to focus only on the toy business, which was growing quickly at that time.

In 1973, the company stopped selling toys wholesale and became a toy retailer that operated stores inside shopping malls. The new name, Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby, came from the initials "K" and "B" in "Kaufman Brothers." At that time, the company had 26 stores. In 1977, the company’s name changed to Kay-Bee Toy and Hobby Shops Inc. By 1979, the company was based in Lee, Massachusetts. That year, the company opened 40 new stores and claimed it was the fastest-growing toy store chain in the nation, with 170 locations in the Midwestern and Eastern United States.

Timeline

In 1922: On April 1, 1922, brothers Joseph and Harry Kaufman started a business that sold wholesale candy and soda fountain supplies. The business was located at 16 Gamwell Court in Pittsfield. (Berkshire Eagle, April 1, 1952.)

In the 1940s: The business moved to 70 Columbus Avenue in Pittsfield. (Berkshire Eagle, Sept. 21, 1946, at 9.) The brothers operated in the wholesale candy business for 25 years. In 1946, they entered the wholesale toy business by accident after receiving a toy company from a client who owed them money. They also got permission from Louis Marx and Co. to sell a line of toy trains. This was a good time to expand because during World War II, there was a shortage of candy ingredients, especially sugar. As wholesalers, they supplied 400 stores within a 150-mile radius of their offices.

In 1948: The wholesale toy business was growing, so the brothers decided to focus only on toys. They sold their candy business to Giftos Brothers.

In 1955: Joseph died, and Harry became President. Other family members working in the business included Harry’s sons Richard and Donald, Joseph’s son Howard, and Joseph’s son-in-law, Harry (Buddy) Baker.

In 1960: The business opened its first retail toy store in Winsted, Connecticut. This store was also given to the business in exchange for unpaid debts.

In 1961: The business opened a toy store in New Hartford, New York. They also moved their offices to 125 Pecks Road in Pittsfield.

In 1963: The business opened a retail toy store called Playworld in the Allendale Shopping Center in Pittsfield.

In 1968: The business opened its first mall store in Eastfield Mall in Springfield, Massachusetts.

In 1970: The business moved its headquarters to Route 102 in Lee, Massachusetts.

In 1973: The business stopped selling toys wholesale and focused only on retailing toys. It changed its name to Kay-Bee Toy & Hobby Shops, Inc. At this time, it had 26 stores. Howard became President in February and held this role until retiring in 1986. (Berkshire Eagle, Dec. 17, 2006.)

In 1976: The business had 65 stores in New England, New York, and New Jersey.

In 1977: The business changed its name to K-B Toys.

In 1981: The business operated 250 stores in over 40 states, with more than $140 million in sales. On August 1, the company was bought by Melville Corp., which renamed the shops Kay-Bee Toy Stores. Richard and Donald Kaufman retired.

From 1981 to 1986: Kay-Bee acquired 19 Kids Toy Stores, 52 Toy World Stores, 13 Toy Fair Stores, 2 Toy Kingdom Stores, 5 Macs Toys, 11 Rizzi Toys, and 330 Circus World stores. This made Kay-Bee the largest toy retail chain in the United States. It employed nearly 7,000 people and opened 330 more Kay-Bee and Toy Works stores, increasing sales by $260 million. By the end of 1985, Kay-Bee had 585 stores and over $400 million in sales.

In 1986: On March 31, Howard retired. Work began on a new headquarters at 100 West Street in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. Saul Rubenstein, a long-time buyer and executive, became President.

In 1981, the Melville Corporation bought the company from the Kaufman family for $64.2 million (about $187 million in 2024). At the time, the company had 210 stores. Richard Kaufman, Harry’s son, retired as president that year. Donald Kaufman, Richard’s brother, had previously served as a vice president. In 1983, the bankrupt Wickes Companies sold 37 of its 45 Toy World stores to Kay-Bee for $5.5 million. By 1990, the company advertised itself as "The Toy Store in the Mall." That year, Melville bought Circus World’s 330 stores for $95 million, adding them to Kay-Bee. In 1991, Kay-Bee bought K&K Toys’ 136 stores and converted them to Kay-Bee stores. Between 1993 and 1994, Kay-Bee closed about 250 underperforming stores.

In 1994: Kay-Bee became a direct competitor to Toys "R" Us by expanding mall locations and opening KB Toy Works stores in strip malls. These stores sold current and closeout toys and were larger than regular KB Toys stores. The company also operated KB Toy Outlet stores in outlet malls and KB Toy Express temporary stores in malls during holidays.

In 1996: Kay-Bee had sales of $1.1 billion and was sold to Consolidated Stores Corporation for $315 million. Sales reached $1.6 billion in 1998, the same year the company launched its merchandise website. The logo was changed to "KB" that year. By May 1999, KB Toys operated 1,324 stores. Consolidated Stores partnered with BrainPlay.com to operate KBToys.com, investing $80 million and owning 80% of the website. The site was relaunched as KBKids.com in July 1999. KB Toys was the second-largest toy retailer in the United States at the time. Consolidated Stores also partnered with AOL to increase online visibility. In September 1999, Consolidated Stores planned to sell 20% of KBKids through a public offering. In October 1999, KBKids.com launched a $43 million advertising campaign.

In January 2000: Consolidated Stores filed to list KBKids on the NASDAQ with an initial public offering valued at $210 million. However, Consolidated Stores faced financial losses and withdrew its plans in June 2000, announcing plans to sell the company.

In

Lawsuits

In December 1999, The Equal Rights Center (TERC) and two Black customers started a legal case in a federal court against KB Toys. The case was about a company rule that did not allow customers to use personal checks to pay for purchases at certain stores where many checks were returned. TERC claimed this rule unfairly treated Black people, as it was used in eight stores in mostly Black neighborhoods in the Baltimore–Washington area. KB Toys said the rule was not based on race and that the policy had been created 13 years earlier. The company also said that stores in the lawsuit did not accept checks from any customers, regardless of race. By March 2000, the case added three more Black people as plaintiffs and asked for money and an end to the check policy. In January 2001, a judge decided TERC was not affected by the policy and removed it from the case. The lawsuit ended in favor of KB Toys in 2003.

In 2001, the district attorney in Napa County, California, filed a lawsuit against KB Toys, saying the company falsely showed sale prices and sold returned items as new. The case was settled in August 2003 for $1.2 million, which would be about $1.96 million in 2024. In 2003, a group of people in Chicago filed a class action lawsuit against KB Toys, claiming the company used misleading price tags to trick customers into thinking they were getting discounts. The case was settled with KB Toys offering a one-week 30 percent discount on purchases of $30 or more.