Hasbro (nyse: HAS) is an American toy company. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world, second only to the toy giant Mattel. Hasbro is also the publisher of the world's most popular board game, Monopoly. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States.
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Hasbro (nyse: HAS) is an American toy company. It is one of the largest toy makers in the world, second only to the toy giant Mattel. Hasbro is also the publisher of the world's most popular board game, Monopoly. The corporate headquarters is located in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, United States.
History
In 1923, two brothers—Henry and Helal Hassenfeld—founded Hassenfeld Brothers, a textile remnant company. Over the next two decades, the company expanded to produce pencil boxes and school supplies. In the 1940s, Hassenfeld Brothers produced doctor and nurse kits, its first toys. Hassenfeld Brothers' first toy hit was Mr. Potato Head, which the company purchased from inventor George Lerner in 1952. The toy was a smash success. In 1964, Hassenfeld Brothers produced the G.I. Joe toy, which they termed an "action figure" in order to market the toy to boys who wouldn't want to play with "dolls". The company shortened its name to Hasbro Industries in 1968. In 1983, Hasbro produced another successful toy franchise, My Little Pony. The company acquired the Milton Bradley Company in 1984, bringing The Game of Life, Candy Land, Twister, Chutes and Ladders and Yahtzee into the Hasbro fold. Hasbro continued its success in 1984 with the release of the first Transformers toys. In 1986, Hasbro acquired Playskool, which purchased Mr. Potato Head from Hasbro that year.
Hasbro, Inc. is now the parent company of several subsidiaries. The toys and games produced by these companies retain their brand identity, which is an important advertising consideration. Many of Hasbro's games have been around so long that they have entered into popular culture. In 1998 Hasbro bought Avalon Hill for $6 million and in 1999 Wizards of the Coast was bought in a deal worth $325 million. Wizards of the Coast is now a subsidiary of Hasbro and has Avalon Hill as its division. In 2001 money-losing Hasbro Interactive, a subsidiary formed in 1995, was sold to French software concern Infogrames for $100 million.
Some of the Hasbro-owned subsidiaries are/were:
- Avalon Hill (an imprint of Wizards of the Coast, see below)
- Claster Television
- Coleco
- Galoob
- Kenner
- Maisto
- Milton Bradley
- Parker Brothers
- Playskool
- Selchow and Righter
- Tiger Electronics
- Tonka
- Wizards of the Coast
- Wrebbit
The largest subsidiary of Hasbro was probably Kenner (in Cincinnati, Ohio). Kenner was the toy company that was behind the success of the Star Wars, Play-Doh, Super Powers, M.A.S.K., Strawberry Shortcake and Care Bears toy lines. When Tonka and then later Hasbro acquired Kenner, the Kenner location became the foremost producer for Hasbro "boys toys", leading production on the high-profile lines of 12" G.I. Joe releases of the nineties, and the Transformers, Batman and Star Wars toys. However, after sales declined in 2000 after the Star Wars toy market saturation implosion, Hasbro faced a difficult decision in cutting back its spending in order to continue to cater to their primary buyers. They decided to close the entire Cincinnati plant, relocating about 100 employees and laying off over 400. This decision, while good for Hasbro, created a ripple effect on the Cincinnati job market which continued to push businesses out of Cincinnati, which, with Procter & Gamble and Hasbro, had managed to be the midwest city for corporate advertising and graphic design.
