Discovery Toys
| Industry | Direct sales |
|---|---|
| Founder | Lane Nemeth |
Key people | CEO Jerry Salerno |
| Products | Toys |
Discovery Toys is a direct sales company specializing in educational toys. It functions with the typical direct sales model using party plan marketing, offering incentive trips and the earning of free merchandise. Its products are sold in the U.S. and Canada, and its headquarters are in Livermore, California.
History
Discovery Toys was founded by early childhood educator, Lane Nemeth, in 1978 with a $5,000 family loan.[1] By 1982, the company had $4.6 million in revenue and 2,500 sales "consultants."[2] Ms. Nemeth grew the company to a $100 million in annual revenue by 1997 then sold the company to Avon[3] who sold it in 2002 to a private equity group. Discovery Toys CEO is Jerry Salerno.
One of the company's top selling toys is Marbleworks. Released in 1982 it consists of colorful, sloped, plastic half-pipes of different designs. The individual pieces interlock, creating a track on which marbles are run. Marbleworks was included in Discovery's product line when Discovery Toys expanded into China in 2003.[4]
References
- ↑ Nancy Rutter (July 1, 1990). "Greer vs. Nemeth". Inc. (magazine). Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- ↑ Steve Kaufman (November 7, 1982). "Entrepreneur's sales thrive from educational toy parties". Boca Raton News (Knight Ridder). Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- ↑ Coco Masters (April 4, 2005). "Let's Pawty!". Time (magazine). Retrieved December 8, 2009.
- ↑ Kathy Chen (2003-09-24). "Discovery Toys Will Launch Its Toys and Games in China". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-08-19.