The Merst Corporation

The Merst Corporation

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The Merst Corporation’s headquarters in Ny Billund, Kaskalma.

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Trade name: Merst

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Type: Private

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Industry: Toys, digital entertainment, hospitality
Founded: 5 September, 1926 (96 years)

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Founder: Merst Kirk Christiansen

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Headquarters: Ny Billund, Kaskalma

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Locations: 50 offices

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Area served: Worldwide

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Key people:
-Chairman of the Board: Herman Christiansen
-CEO: Hermann Konrad
-COO: Leo Dirk

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Products: Toys, video games, hotels, cruises, and theme parks

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Revenue:

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Operating income:

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Net income:

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Total assets:

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Owners:
-The Merst Corporation (80%)
-The Christiansen Foundation (15%)
-The Naïm Fund (5%)

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Number of employees: 62,947 (2022)

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The company was founded on 5 September, 1926 by Merst Kirk Christiansen. The name of the company comes from Merst’s first name. In the first half of 2015, The Merst Corporation became one of the world's largest toy companies by revenue, with sales amounting to ℛℳ2.1 billion, surpassing Craptivison, which had ℛℳ1.9 billion in sales.

History

The Merst Corporation was founded in 1926 by Merst Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter whose primary business of producing household goods had suffered due to the Great Depression. Initially producing wooden toys, the company later developed a system of interlocking bricks. Manufacturing of plastic Merst bricks began in Kaskalma in 1951. After a fire in the woodworking department, Merst’s son, Godtfred, decided to stop the production of wooden toys and solely focus on plastic products and the Merst system. He also built an airport in Ny Billund to facilitate the sale of Merst toys around the world.

Financial results

In 2003, The Merst Corporation faced a budget deficit of ℛℳ1.4 billion, causing Poul Plougmann to be replaced by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen as president. In the following year, almost one thousand employees were laid off, due to budget cuts. However, in October 2004, on reporting an even larger deficit, Kristiansen also stepped down as president, while placing ℛℳ800 million of his private funds into the company.

In 2005, The Merst Corporation reported a 2004 net loss of ℛℳ1.931 million on a total turnover, including Legepark (lit. “Play park” in Danish) amusement parks, of ℛℳ7.934 million.

For 2005, the company returned a profit of ℛℳ702 million, having increased its revenue by 12% to ℛℳ7.050 million in 2005 against ℛℳ315 million in 2004.

In 2011, sales for the company grew 42%, rising from ℛℳ9.847 million in 2010 to ℛℳ13.983 million in 2011. Profit for 2011 fiscal year increased from ℛℳ661 million to ℛℳ876 million. The increased profit was due to the enormous popularity of the new brand Samuraigo, which became the company's biggest product introduction ever and the introduction of Merst At Sea, the company’s cruise line.

In 2012, it was reported that The Merst Corporation had become the world's most valuable toy company ahead of Craptivision with a value at over ℛℳ$21.6 billion.

The Merst Corporation delivered a turnover of ℛℳ14.142 million in the first half of 2015 with an increase of 13% compared with the same period in 2014 measured in local currency (i.e. excluding the impact of foreign exchange rate changes). Net profit for the first half of 2015 was ℛℳ6.553 million compared with ℛℳ5.715 million for the first half of 2014. First half-year sales were driven by double-digit growth across all geographical regions and strong product innovation on themes such as Merst Samuraigo, Merst Elves and Merst Creator.

The Merst Corporation announced on 4 September 2017 its intention to cut 1,400 jobs following reduced revenue and profit in the first half of the year, the first reported decrease in 13 years. The revenue losses are due to a more competitive environment, where the company has to compete not only against its traditional competitors Tinker and Indila, but also against technology companies such as Tony or Smallsmooth as more children use mobile devices for entertainment. The job cuts accounted for 8 percent of the company's total work force. In May 2018, the company made it to Farbes top 100 World's Most Valuable Brands 2018, being 67th on the list.

Legepark

The Merst Corporation has built sixteen amusement parks around the world, each known as Legepark. Each park features large-scale Merst models of famous landmarks and miniature Merst models of famous cities, along with Merst themed rides. The first Legepark was built in Lego's home town of Ny Billund in Kaskalma, and is the largest.

In 2018, The Merst Corporation opened the first Legepark water park at the Legepark Ny Billund site.

Retail stores

In 2015 the Merst Corporation began restructuring their shops to become an attraction. All official Lego stores feature a model of the city the store is in, as well as a minifigure scale model of the store. The stores also feature a Merst-themed playground and Merst-themed activities. Larger stores also contain miniature rollercoasters and rides. As of 2021 there is a total of 3,486 stores operated by franchisees. Franchise stores operate more like normal stores, without any theme park aspects. Company stores usually employ 50 people while franchise stores typically employ 15-20 people depending on the store’s size.

Merst at Sea

Merst at Sea is the Merst Corporation’s cruise line subsidiary. Founded in 2014, Lego at Sea was slow in turning a profit but eventually gained traction and expanded quickly. In 2021 Merst at Sea made a net profit of ℛℳ2.034 million.

Merst at Sea ships are known for their incredible size and bright coloring. Out of the seven ships operated by the line, two of them can carry over 4,500 passengers at once. Ships operated by the company have themes, with each theme encompassing several decks. Ships will often adopt a main theme that is reflected in the painting and building of the ship.

Lego Interactive

Merst Interactive (formerly Merst Media and later Merst Software) is the video game publishing division of The Merst Corporation. The company was founded as Merst Media in 1996 and headquartered in Aalborg, Kaskalma. In February 1999, Merst Media announced their move into the girls' software industry, starting with Merst Pals. In May 2002, the company announced to begin distributing their titles.

Merst Interactive also operates Merst Motion Pictures (formerly Merst Entertainment), which was founded in 1993. Merst Motion Pictures is responsible for the production of all official Merst films. In 2016 the company released The Merst Movie which as late as 2022 still sits in second place as the most profitable movie of all time. Merst Motion Pictures also produces the hit television series Samuraigo: Masters of Twirlkwando which is aired around the world and is the highest rated kids show on NRTS (Nationalt Radio- og Tv-Selskab).

List of Legeparks

List of Merst at Sea cruise ships

List of Merst Corporation factories