Toy Company KiwiCo Sees Children as 'Young Innovators'
*By: Madison Alworth*
Many toy makers may feel imperiled by the closing of Toys 'R' Us, but KiwiCo seems to be doing just fine.
The company, which sells kits that encourage kids to build and create their own toys, says sales have grown at an annual rate of about 60 percent a year since its founding in 2011.
"This year we are approaching $100 million in sales," said Sandra Oh Lin, the company's founder and CEO, in an interview with Cheddar.
KiwiCo took in a round of financing to the tune of $10 million early on. It started producing STEM-based toys, but evolved to sell crates of materials to build toys for everything from engineering to art to more.
"In a few weeks we are actually launching a new line called Atlas Crate, which is all about geography and encouraging kids to see themselves as global citizens," Oh Lin said.
"We are really about encouraging kids to see themselves as young innovators. We want them to embrace the thought that they are makers, that they have innate creativity. What we are trying to do is instill that creative confidence as well as the tools."
The crates are available as stand-alone products and through a subscription service. A [monthly subscription](https://www.kiwico.com/) starts at $19.95 but goes down in price if customers sign on for longer periods.
For the full segment, [click here.](https://cheddar.com/videos/kiwico-subscription-services-for-stem-toys)
Plant-based meat giant Beyond Meat's reign over the fast food world continues, as McDonald's announced that it is expanding its test of Beyond's McPlant burger, to nearly 600 restaurants, an increase from the eight that it's been testing in since November. This comes less than two weeks after Beyond Fried Chicken made its nationwide debut at KFC restaurants, the first time that plant based chicken has been widely distributed in a fast food capacity. Arun Sundaram, Senior Equity Analyst at CFRA Research explains why these latest collaborations may be proof that Beyond Meat products could slowly be becoming an unlikely staple in the fast food and chain restaurant world as consumers opt for more healthy food options.
It's a big weekend for sports betting, with the NFL conference championships and Australian Open finals expected to bring the industry even more traffic. And if record viewership of the divisional playoff game between the Chiefs and Bills was any indication, sports betting will only continue to grow as football season comes to an end. Joe Raineri, sports betting analyst at SportsGrid, joined Cheddar to discuss how these sporting events could impact the industry, which is expected to get even bigger in 2022.
Ross Gerber, Co-Founder, President, and CEO of Gerber Kawaski Wealth and Investment Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he says now is a great opportunity to buy low on Tesla after shares fell in light of the EV giant's latest earnings report.
High-speed connectivity solutions provider Credo went public on the Nasdaq on Thursday, raising $200 million in its IPO. CEO Bill Brennan, joined Cheddar to discuss its entry into the capital markets and the next chapter for the company. "We're going to be focused on what we have been focused on, which is really creating, creating innovative connectivity solutions that really pushed the edge on efficient power as well as very effective cost," he said.
BD Veritor is a variation of the at-home COVID test that uses a smartphone to interpret the results. The test is taken via a nose swab test strip that is then scanned by your phone’s camera with the result clearly displayed as positive or negative. James Walker, vice president of integrated diagnostics USA for BD, joined Cheddar to discuss how the test hopefully takes the "guesswork out of testing." Walker also went into what BD is doing to deal with the surging demand for at-home tests amid the omicron spread. "While we don't disclose how much we produce, we have capacity to manufacture up to 12 million rapid antigen tests per month and are delivering on our commitments to distributors and retailers," he said.
Citi recently began collaborating with fitness entrepreneur Tracy Anderson to promote its Custom Cash Credit card. Pam Habner, CEO of U.S. Branded Cards for Citi, along with Tracy Anderson, creator of The Tracy Anderson Method, joined Cheddar to discuss how health and fitness matched up with a cash back credit card. "The fact that Citi is going 'hey if you lead a healthy lifestyle, we're going to help you out. We understand that it's more expensive and we're going to give you cash back for living your best life,'" Anderson said about the partnership, which also includes a custom promotional Spotify playlist.
Stocks closed lower Thursday amid continued volatility. The S&P 500 was down 10% from its record high, the Dow was down 7%, and the Nasdaq was 4% away from bear market territory as it closed 16% below its record high. Investors are still processing this week's Federal Reserve announcement about a potential first rate hike in March. Chris Gaffney, President of World Markets at TIAA Bank, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss today's close, the Fed's announcement, predictions about interest rate hikes, and more.
