Toymaker Lego said it will invest more than $1 billion in a factory in the United States. To shorten supply chains and keep up with growing demand for its coloured plastic bricks.
The investment is in line with a decade-old strategy of placing production close to its key markets. Which the company says has been beneficial as the global retail industry faces pandemic-related supply chain issues. The plant will also be carbon neutral.
Large seasonal swings are a feature of the toy market. While more than half of the company’s products in stores are new items. It’s difficult to predict what children and adults want to buy for a birthday or for Christmas. So the reaction time is very worthwhile to make sure we have the right products on the shelves,”
According to the corporation, a solar park on the property will create renewable energy to power the plant.
Lego has pledged to replace oil-based plastic bricks with ones made from sustainable materials by the end of the decade
The 160,000-square-meter factory is scheduled to be operational in the second half of 2025 to employ 1,760 people. Lego closed a smaller factory in Connecticut in 2006.
“The U.S. market has done really well in recent years. We see huge potential in the United States and throughout the Americas,” said Rasmussen.
The company now employs around 2,600 people in the United States, where it operates 100 stores. The company is also investing in increasing capacity at existing factories in Europe and China.
Lego produces roughly 100 billion bricks each year and employs around 24,000 people worldwide.
-Reuters.
