Company Profile - Kid Kreations

Getting to know Kid Kreations

For many years, Kid Kreations has been the company behind several Argos exclusive ranges, including Tiny Treasures, DesignaBear and DesignaFriend. Now though, the Staffordshire-based traditional play specialist is changing with the times by offering its toy lines to other retailers, both in the UK and across the globe. Toy World’s John Baulch and Rachael Simpson-Jones paid Kid Kreations a visit at its HQ in Staffordshire, to find out more about the company’s history, what its current and upcoming toy ranges offer retailers of all sizes, and why the time is right for the company to forge its own path ahead.

Linda Osborne, the owner of Kid Kreations, has been in the toy industry for a long time. After working as a buyer for Mothercare and Debenhams, she then moved to Golden Bear as director of Product Development. (Of the six women in the room with us, three have actually worked at Golden Bear: Debbie Jackson was formerly the company’s Product Development manager and Julie Taylor was its Sales director.) Having reached a ‘milestone’ birthday, she decided to go it alone, starting up a jewellery design business before ultimately being drawn back into the world of toys, undertaking product development consultancy work for various well-known toy companies.

Four months later, Debbie joined her, and a couple of years after that, having already undertaken some own-brand work for Hamleys, the pair were approached by Tesco’s senior buyer, who was looking to relaunch the retailer’s pre-school toy range across plush, dolls and wood and wanted them to pitch some designs. The result was a $1.5m order for the new Chubby Chums range.

A couple of years after that, what turned out to be a fortuitous encounter with the Argos’ Toy controller, while out in Hong Kong, saw Linda and Debbie develop and pitch DesignaBear. In just three days, functioning on next to no sleep, they devised and presented an entire brand: a logo, the packaging and toy designs. Having initially been told they weren’t successful due to the tight turnaround required, Linda and Debbie were subsequently asked to provide samples at breakneck speed, with even less time to go until the requested on-shelf date. They got on a plane, headed out to Hong Kong (right before Chinese New Year) and set about getting samples made any way they could. With the factories already at full capacity, street tailors were drafted in to make outfits for the cuddly animals. Landing back at Heathrow, they headed straight to Argos’ selection event and the rest, as they say, is history.

Julie Taylor shared with us Kid Kreations’ revised business strategy, which will see the company now step into the spotlight. Firstly, the company is launching a range of high-quality new toy brands with global potential, such as FOB plush line Swapsies, which is being exclusively distributed in the UK & Ireland by Click Distribution. Unveiled to the trade at 2024’s London Toy Fair, Swapsies is a new collection of soft and squishy plush characters with interchangeable ears and tails. There are eight large Swapsies and six blind-boxed Lil’ Swapsies to collect: large Swapsies come with two extra swappable ears, while Lil’ Swapsies come with one.

Secondly, Kid Kreations is planning to increase its visibility with marketing efforts across a variety of media and platforms. Having spent so long designing own-brand ranges for big-name retailers, they now need to step out from behind the curtain and show people what the company is capable of. For the first time ever, Kid Kreations is heading to Los Angeles to showcase its ranges to the wider trade at its showroom on Pacific Coast Highway between 9th-20th September. (To book a meeting, contact Julie on julie@kidkreations.co.uk).

Thirdly, Kid Kreations’ has set its sights on expanding its distribution and market penetration with new partners. It currently operates under an FOB model, but there’s nothing stopping it from one day having its own third-party warehouse.

Whatever it’s been developing on behalf of others, the company has always taken a wide-angle view when it comes to product development, creating a whole toy concept spanning design, POS and marketing. Its biggest success to date, with £107m in retail sales and numerous award wins behind it at Argos alone, Kid Kreations’ 18” doll range DesignaFriend launched at Argos the year after DesignaBear. Hero doll Connie, now the beloved face of Argos’ marketing campaigns, is just one of the diverse range’s characters, all of which come with long, stylable hair, outfits and accessories, and 100% recyclable, plastic-free gift box packaging complete with tissue paper lining. Kids can also choose from an assortment of complementary outfits and accessories sets, including a glamping festival tent, a horse and horse-riding outfit, a car and a bunk bed. The seasonal DesignaFriend dolls, meanwhile, come dressed in appropriately Christmassy outfits and have gone down a storm with older collectors.

“DesignaFriend averages 4.5 out of 5 stars across hundreds of authentic consumer reviews,” enthuses Julie. “The whole team is laser focused on quality and detailing. The dolls’ hair is so soft and silky, and the shoes and clothes are made from real fashion fabrics. Parents and grandparents want toys they know will last and can be passed down through the generations, such as Our Little World, Kid Kreations’ Argos-exclusive wooden and plush range. Interestingly, Our Little World best-sellers are the £60 and £100 items. It just goes to show that gifters might not be driving volume, but they’re certainly willing to spend on quality.”

Sticking with dolls, there’s Tiny Treasures and My First Tiny Treasures. Both were born (if you’ll excuse the pun) seven years ago out of the growing market for ‘reborn’ baby dolls, landing first with Argos and now available at Smyths since autumn/winter 2023. These particularly realistic dolls are highly sought after by adult doll fans, but they tend to be expensive. Base models start at a couple of hundred pounds, up to £1,000 or more for custom orders. At £40 RRP, Tiny Treasures are ideal for kids aged 3-7 seeking true immersion into the world of nurturing play and have proved very popular with parent and grandparent gifters. Each doll comes dressed in a cute outfit in car-seat-style box packaging, accompanied by a birth certificate and wearing a hospital bracelet that lends extra realism to the experience of bringing a baby home from the maternity ward. The real joy of Tiny Treasures, though, is discovered when you pick one up: they weigh 2lb 10oz and smell like a newborn baby, lending an added level of authenticity to the play pattern. My First Tiny Treasures is a smaller and lighter option for children aged 18+ months, coming in at 1lb 7oz and an RRP of £25.

For 2024, Kid Kreations is doubling its Tiny Treasures SKUs. Having seen success in a range of global markets already, it’s now launching in France. The brand is also arriving in the states this year, online via an eCommerce platform and Amazon to build the fanbase and brand awareness.

“It’s nice to offer a range of toys that promote genuinely traditional, wholesome play,” says Linda, observing that modern-day living can lead to kids spending much of their time on phones and tablets, or glued to screens elsewhere in the house. “It’s so important to me, and indeed to the whole Kid Kreations team, that our toys provide kids with the opportunity to enjoy evergreen, classic play patterns that aid development and foster life skills.”

On top of these existing brands, Kid Kreations will be launching three new ranges in Los Angeles. Heartfuls is a doll range that equips kids with the tools needed to navigate and overcome everyday challenges related to a lack of self-confidence and self-belief. Parents will be invited into the play pattern, which focuses very much on positive yet subtle messaging to help support and guide kids aged six and over. Heartfuls is joined by OneSea, a line of all-in-one UPF swimsuits with head protection and floatation aids, and BedHedz, food-themed, kawaii-style dolls with wild and colourful hair (and cheeky bare bottoms) that will be just as much at home in gifting specialists as they will be in toy stores.

As it transitions from an own-brand design specialist to a toy supplier in its own right, Kid Kreations clearly has a lot to look forward to. As a small company, numbering less than 20 people across both its Staffordshire and Hong Kong offices, it is agile and reactive, just as Linda and Debbie were back when the company was still in its infancy. Kid Kreations’ Hong Kong office is led by Joshua Craddock, who heads up a loyal team of experienced product developers and production experts. Throughout the years, the company has also remained steadfastly loyal to its Chinese factories, going so far as to host in-person presentations of awards and certificates in recognition of their long service.

“The world is fast paced and changing all the time, but we’re always looking for solutions to market problems and ways to fill gaps,” says Linda, as our meeting draws to a close. “The main thing people need to know is that while we may be a relatively unknown company, we’ve been producing first-class toys for a long time, and we know what we’re doing. We stay abreast of consumer trends and economic pressures, and our ranges offer retailers superb, attractively priced toys with a point of difference in a marketplace in which brands need to cut through the noise. Ours do just that – and have been doing so for years. It’s now time for the industry to find out just who Kid Kreations is.”