DEVENS, MA--(Marketwire - November 23, 2010) - Today, Learning Express, the nation's fastest-growing specialty toy franchise, announced the launch of a new eCommerce shopping site. In addition to enhanced features for shoppers, the new www.learningexpresstoys.com offers an unprecedented opportunity to all Learning Express franchisees. Any storeowner operating a brick and mortar location can now sign up to be an online retailer -- selling toys from their local inventory to be shipped nationwide or picked up at their store.
"We are always looking for new ways to best serve customers and provide new services offered at our stores," said Learning Express Founder and CEO Sharon DiMinico. "Over the past few years online shopping has really tipped the balance in the retail industry. It used to be secondary, but nowadays if you aren't selling your product online, you're missing a good portion of the market. We set out to build a website that would allow our customers to combine the convenience of online shopping with their support of a local business. No one that we know of has ever done this before, and it's an incredible opportunity that we're very proud to offer to our franchisees. They can continue to be relevant in the midst of a major cultural shift."
Despite another tentative year for most retailers, the Learning Express franchise opened 14 new stores in 2010. The new locations represent 6 new franchisees and 8 established Learning Express storeowners operating multiple locations. Four existing franchisees also opened temporary "holiday stores" in the past few months.
Entrepreneurs who are interested in the Learning Express franchise can visit www.learningexpress.com/franchise or email franchise@learningexpress.com for more information.