Toys - King Jouet Saint-Lazare: A new flagship toy store in the heart of Paris

By Mulder, 28 april 2025

On April 9, 2025, King Jouet, France's leading toy and game retailer, opened its fifth Paris store, strategically located at 8 rue d'Amsterdam, close to the Saint-Lazare train station in the 9th arrondissement. With this opening, the brand is confirming its ambition to strengthen its presence in the capital and adapt its concept to new consumer trends. Located in a key location opposite Paris' second busiest train station—with nearly 105 million passengers in 2024—this new space is part of King Jouet's strategy to establish a presence in city centers, which began in 2019 with its store on Rue de Rivoli. Saint-Lazare thus stands out as a flagship store for King Jouet, offering an immersive and interactive experience based on a playful layout and a range specifically designed to appeal to both children and adult toy enthusiasts, commonly known as “Kidults.”

The new King Jouet Saint-Lazare store covers nearly 1,000 square meters spread over two floors. Upon entering, the concept stands out with its bright interior design featuring natural tones: stone, concrete, and light wood create a warm atmosphere that is conducive to discovery. The layout showcases a wide selection of 3,000 items on average, mainly from French designers and manufacturers such as Bioviva, Botaki, Lunii, Sentosphère and Smoby. The customer experience is at the heart of the offering: numerous experiential areas allow customers to touch, test and handle the toys outside their packaging. Notable features include an XXL Doctor Maboul, a Lego wall to give free rein to your creativity, a giant interactive Monopoly game, a huge Playmobil board to create your own character, a life-size Barbie dressing room, a Globber race track with podium, and a Schleich area decorated with giant animal heads. Other areas, such as a Sylvanian Families photo booth and giant Wood'n Play cubes, further enhance this educational and entertaining experience.

To further enhance the in-store experience, King Jouet also offers free entertainment every weekend. This includes lightsaber workshops, Disney face painting, board game demonstrations and competitions, as well as Pokémon card trading events, held on the first Saturday of every month. This event-based offering aims to make the store a real hub, in line with the brand's desire to foster closeness and interaction with its urban customers. The “urban store” concept developed by King Jouet, already visible in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Marseille, and Strasbourg, is based on a neighborhood approach designed to fully integrate into the local fabric.

King Jouet Saint-Lazare is also innovating by dedicating, for the first time, a significant space to Kidults, teenagers and adults who are passionate about games and toys. A space of over 30 m² is entirely dedicated to them, showcasing premium products and iconic brands: construction toys (Lego), board games (Asmodee, Hasbro), puzzles (Ravensburger), action figures (Bandai, Playmobil), soft toys and even giant Funko Pop figures. This initiative is part of a broader trend. According to a study conducted by Junior City in early 2025 for King Jouet, 47% of 13-55 year olds have bought at least one toy for themselves or received one as a gift in the last twelve months, making an average of five purchases per year. Kidults already accounted for 21% of sales at King Jouet in 2024, and the stated goal is to reach 30% by the end of 2026. To support this momentum, King Jouet has rolled out dedicated in-store signage (“King'dultes”), created a specific online store, and publishes a dedicated catalog twice a year, with the next edition scheduled for June 4, 2025.

With a view to promoting environmental responsibility, King Jouet is also promoting its proprietary “Jouet Score” label, launched in 2023. This rating system measures the eco-design of toys based on their materials, packaging, and origin of manufacture, assigning a score from 1 to 5. Currently, 20% of the products offered are considered eco-responsible, double the share three years ago, while 25% of the toys are of French origin. This ecological focus is reinforced by additional initiatives such as the “King'Répar” offer, which provides 1,000 spare parts and a self-repair service, available in 40 stores in France and via an online chat service.

Finally, King Jouet Saint-Lazare offers services designed to simplify the lives of city dwellers: interactive terminals for browsing and ordering from over 15,000 items, lockers for temporarily storing purchases so customers can continue shopping hands-free, and bicycle delivery for purchases over $150 for customers within the city limits, subject to feasibility based on the weight of the item. These services meet the expectations of urban customers looking for convenience and efficiency, while enhancing the in-store shopping experience.

Based in Voiron (38) and managed by Philippe Gueydon, the King Jouet Group, with a family heritage dating back to 1875, is continuing its development with consolidated sales of €416 million excluding tax in 2024, bringing together more than 380 points of sale in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, and Morocco. With this new Saint-Lazare store, King Jouet is confirming its capacity for innovation and its desire to offer much more than just a place to shop: a real experience of play and entertainment for all ages.

(Source: press notes)