After building a 9-figure online business, KiwiCo is launching in Barnes & Noble and Target
After primarily selling through its website for over 10 years, children’s education brand KiwiCo is finally launching in brick-and-mortar by entering Barnes & Noble and Target stores this month.
KiwiCo was founded in 2011 and has become known for its subscription toy plans that are known as “crates” and are geared toward kids up to the age of 14. A “Tinker Crate,” for example, teaches kids how to make a variety of simple science projects like a toy motorcycle. Now, the brand is entering about 450 Barnes & Noble stores and approximately 800 Target stores nationwide. According to the company, the two retail launches will help the brand target different customer segments. At Barnes & Noble, KiwiCo will be targeting people looking to discover new products or find a unique gift. At Target, KiwiCo is hoping to attract families in time for back-to-school season and is partnering with a network of influencers affiliated with Target hauls.
KiwiCo founder and CEO Sandra Oh Lin told Modern Retail the company has been preparing to be able to support big retail partners. “We’ve always been primarily DTC and the primary way to interact with us is through subscription,” Lin said.
Lin said the company, which is currently profitable and raised a total of $10 million of initial equity financing, now generates nine figures in sales. “We’ve also shipped over 50 million crates to date worldwide,” she said. The brand also has a small but growing B-to-B business that caters to educational centers and schools.
“With our website, it doesn’t serve a case where you need to run to grab a birthday gift on a Saturday afternoon,” Lin said. Part of the reason why KiwiCo is launching in retail now is to fulfill that customer need.
In Target, KiwiCo will be selling products geared toward kids ages three to nine and up. KiwiCo’s Froggie Dissection Lab, a bestseller on the site, will be sold at Target. Price points range from $20 to $35 at Target across six products. Barnes & Noble will offer five KiwiCo SKUs that are geared toward a range of ages, from infants to tweens, and go up to $60.
Lin added that Barnes & Noble has become increasingly known for its gifting options, which span beyond books.
“It’s been exciting to see what Barnes & Noble has been doing,” Lin said. The retailer has been expanding its assortment, particularly in the toys category. “That section really leans into art and STEM, so there is a real opportunity for people to discover brands.”
Since Barnes & Noble CEO James Daunt took the helm in 2019, the retailer’s model shifted to a more localized store approach. This means decentralizing operations, which allows each location manager to curate merchandise and events based on local customers’ tastes. The retailer has also embraced social media by working with influencers on platforms like TikTok in recent years. As for its footprint, Barnes & Noble was struggling in the 2010s and had been cutting costs by closing dozens of stores. But this year the retailer says it’s opening 50 new locations as part of a turnaround plan.
Kirthi Kalyanam is the executive director of the Retail Management Institute at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University. Kalyanam said that with so many DTC startups vying for retail partnerships and competing for shelf space, brands now face pressure to choose the right retail partner to invest in.
Barnes & Noble, he said, while not a typical go-to for DTC brands entering retail, can help a kids brand like KiwiCo stand out to high-intent shoppers like parents and gift buyers.
“The way Barnes & Noble is revamping itself is by trying to go beyond being a bookseller,” Kalyanam said. “What they’ve learned is that the merchandising around big blockbuster titles wasn’t working because those are being bought online.” As the transformation continues, Kalyanam said, “The question is whether Barnes & Noble can become a destination retailer for people who want a browsing and social experience they can’t get online.”
KiwiCo is hoping it can replicate its online success in brick-and-mortar with the help of Barnes & Noble and Target. Beginning in early August, the brand will also be promoting its retail availability by running a “Golden Ticket” giveaway contest. The brand will hide golden tickets in product boxes distributed to retail locations across the country, and the shoppers who find one in their crate will win a $100 KiwiCo.com gift card. This is to build excitement around the retail launch while encouraging customers to explore KiwiCo’s DTC site.
Lin said that while the brand’s direct-to-consumer subscription business will remain a big channel, the goal is to expand beyond digital customers through availability in retail chain toy aisles. “One of our main goals is to empower kids to think of themselves as innovators and makers, we want to be able to increase that by expanding our footprint,” Lin said.