Little Tikes is an American manufacturer of children's toys, with headquarters and manufacturing located in

Hudson, Ohio Hudson is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States. The population was 23,110 at the 2020 census. It is a suburban community in the Akron metropolitan statistical area and the larger Cleveland–Akron–Canton Combined Statistical Area, th ...

. The company also has other manufacturing and distribution facilities in

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and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Little Tikes' products are mostly low-tech molded plastic toys aimed primarily at infants and young children, for indoor and outdoor use, including its party kitchen and turtle sandbox. The company was established by Tom G. Murdough Jr. on November 10, 1969 in

Aurora, Ohio Aurora is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is a suburb of Cleveland and Akron, Ohio, and is co-extensive with, and formed from, the former township of Aurora, which was formed from the Connecticut Western Reserve. It is part of ...

. The company was acquired by Rubbermaid in 1984. Murdough signed an employment agreement with Rubbermaid under which he would stay with the new parent company for a five-year period as president and general manager through 1989. In May 1989, Murdough announced that he would be leaving Little Tikes at the end of that year to pursue other interests. In 1991, Murdough established a new toy business called

Step 2 Step(s) or STEP may refer to: Common meanings * Steps, making a staircase * Walking * Dance move * Military step, or march ** Marching Arts Films and television * ''Steps'' (TV series), Hong Kong * ''Step'' (film), US, 2017 Literature * '' ...

, now based in

Streetsboro, Ohio Streetsboro is a city in Portage County, Ohio, United States. It is formed from the former township of Streetsboro, which was formed from the Connecticut Western Reserve. It is nearly co-extant with the former Streetsboro Township; the village of ...

, aimed at competing with and outselling Little Tikes. In 1999, Rubbermaid merged with Newell to form Newell Rubbermaid. The company was acquired by

MGA Entertainment MGA Entertainment Inc. (short for Micro-Games America Entertainment; sometimes referred to as MGA) is a manufacturer of children's toys and entertainment products founded in 1979. Its products include, Bratz, L.O.L. Surprise!, Num Noms and Rainbow ...

in September 2006 from Newell Rubbermaid for an undisclosed sum. As of 2006, the 500 employees at Little Tikes were generating approximately $250 million in revenue of Rubbermaid's $6.3 billion in annual sales, and the acquisition was projected to add $15 to $25 million to MGA Entertainment's bottom line. The purchase was said to allow a better fit with MGA Entertainment, a manufacturer of children's toys and entertainment products founded in 1979 whose products included the Bratz line of fashion dolls. The firm's red and yellow

Cozy Coupe The Cozy Coupe is a red and yellow toy car manufactured and distributed by Little Tikes, an American manufacturer of children's toys based in Hudson, Ohio. Design The car's design, described as "a cross between a Volkswagen Beetle and Fred Flint ...

toy car, released in 1979, reached 6 million units in sales by its 35th anniversary in 2004, and was called the "world's best-selling car for much of this decade" by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' in 1998, outselling the Honda Accord and Ford Taurus. In 2009, cartoon eyes and a smile were added to the car. In 2022, the Cozy Coupe was transformed into an electric car with the gas cap replaced by an electric socket and charger. While the company had traditionally focused on durable plastic toys that allow children to use their imagination while at play, by 2004 it had introduced its Magicook Kitchen, which uses radio frequency devices to allow components to communicate with each other, such as having the stove respond when it recognizes that a piece of food is placed on it. Murdough was nominated for the

Toy Industry Hall of Fame The Toy Industry Hall of Fame recognizes the contributions of toy-makers around the world. It is maintained by the Toy Industry Foundation, an arm of the US Toy Industry Association. See also * National Toy Hall of Fame * List of toys and chi ...

in 2019 and inducted in 2020.

References

External links

* {{MGA Entertainment Manufacturing companies based in Ohio American companies established in 1969 Toy companies established in 1969 Summit County, Ohio Toy companies of the United States MGA Entertainment brands 2006 mergers and acquisitions