CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--schleich®, the world’s leading manufacturer of characters and playsets, has announced another strong year of sales to close out 2022. With 13% growth in the North America market, schleich® North America delivered an impressive contribution to boost an overall global growth of 8%, marking the 8th consecutive year of strong growth.
schleich® has managed to grow by more than double over the course of the past eight years, and the company now sells more than 40 million of its well-loved characters and playsets worldwide each year. As schleich® continues to focus on international growth, the North American team attributes its own success in part to expanding consumer audiences and extensive support at the retail level. Our successful flagship program expanded into Canada for the first time in 2022 with six retailer locations and at the Calgary Zoo, which joins 41 flagships in the US, along with the world's largest children’s museum, The Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
According to David Albert, managing director of schleich® North America, “Strategic investments in our marketing and partnerships with retailers continue to improve our brand awareness, and in effect, our growth trajectory. Our success in 2022, despite the downturn on the global toy industry overall, proves we are making the right connections with consumers and sharing the right stories about who we are as a brand.”
schleich® implemented a brand refresh last July, redefining its mission and championing its characters and playsets as tools of free play that spark endless stories and discoveries. Other efforts to increase brand awareness included a partnership with a leader in children’s audio entertainment, the HEYMRJIM podcast, during the holiday season, extending the brand’s commitment to storytelling through unique audio and digital content.
The expansion of Horse Club through the launch of the Sofia’s Beauties sub-brand was schleich®’s fastest growing product line last year, introducing both a younger and more diverse audience of horse lovers into the franchise and brand.
The brand also made significant strides in sustainability in 2022, and recently announced a new global initiative with the goal of producing characters and playsets that are made exclusively of sustainable materials by 2027. Starting this year, the company will also only use cardboard that is FSC-certified for its packaging.
“Looking ahead into 2023, we will continue to deepen the storytelling we are doing with consumers, and create engaging experiences for consumers and our retail partners with flagship opportunities in the US and Canada that bring our brand to life,” continued Albert.
Along with its commitment to sustainability, schleich® will continue its efforts to reach new audiences. The brand recently announced the introduction of a seventh product line, Wizarding World™ based on the world of Harry Potter™, expected later this year.
For more information on schleich® visit us at schleich-s.com, or follow the brand on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
*The NPD Group
About Schleich GmbH
Friedrich Schleich founded Schleich in Schwäbisch Gmünd in 1935. Today, the company is one of Germany’s largest toy manufacturers and a leading international supplier of realistic animal figures. The famous characters and sets made by schleich® are sold in more than 60 countries and have become a beloved feature in children’s rooms around the world. As a global player with Swabian roots, Schleich GmbH now generates more than half of its turnover outside of its core market in Germany. In 2022, Schleich had a global turnover of EUR 275 million, selling around 40 million animal figures. The company is currently undergoing a comprehensive transformation process to achieve greater sustainability. As a first step, all characters will be recyclable or biodegradable by 2027. Schleich is also intensively researching recycled and biobased materials for the future production of its toys. In addition, Schleich will be optimising and certifying its characters and packaging to the standards of the Cradle to Cradle® circular economy by the end of 2027 to ensure that resources are reused. The company is now majority-owned by the Partners Group, a global private markets investment manager.
