Projo Biz Blog

By Business Staff

Pawtucket-based Hasbro said Wednesday it has opened an office in Moscow and called Russia one of its "key markets'' as demand for toys and games grows there.

Russia generated about 2 percent of Hasbro's sales in Europe last year, and the company expects that share to "grow significantly,'' John Harper, Hasbro's president for Europe, told Bloomberg News.

"The reason we can grow business here much faster than in mature markets is that the economy is expanding and because of people's ability to buy so- called branded toys,'' he said.

Russia's $461 billion retail industry grew 28 percent last year, fueled by higher wages and consumer spending, according to Renaissance Capital investment bank in Moscow. Growth will slow to 16 percent this year as the credit crunch discourages consumers, the bank said.

Hasbro estimates Russia's annual retail market for toys and games at $1.5 billion, of which the company had as much as 3 percent in 2008, said Tomasz Micek, Hasbro's Russia chief. The global toys and games market is about $60 billion a year based on wholesale prices, said Henk Suelmann, the company's head of emerging markets.

The toymaker has run 12 television commercials this spring in Russia and plans another 20 by the end of the year, according to Micek. Besides television, the company plans to push magazine and Internet promotions, he said.

Hasbro has a so-called third-party production facility in Russia's Far East where it has a contract with a local producer to make toys and games, Harper said. The company has no plans for its own plant in Russia "at this stage,'' he added.

 Tags  Hasbro Moscow Pawtucket RI

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