Speaking to The Financial Express, Newar group director Mohit Tikmany said that the company had to think of innovations in retailing toys targeted at the premium segment. Mahindra is keen to have Little Tikes playpens in all its resorts, probably the first time-share company which is looking at children's requirements seriously.

Office Products is also talking to some construction companies in Bangalore to see if apartments could house common play pens. Also in the offing is the setting up of a large play pen in a public place in Delhi, along the lines of a Little Tikes play pen already set up in an amusement park in China.

Thisorder is likely to materialise in the next couple of months, Tikmany said.

Office Products first entered institutional markets through Montessori schools and other educational institutions, then made a foray into the hotels segment for special play corners before going on to fast food joints such as McDonalds in Mumbai and Bangalore and Pizza Hut in Chennai.

The company is proceeding in accordance with its original plan of setting up franchisees in metros for retail sales, go to smaller towns and look back to the metros for more franchisees by which time the Little Tikes product lines would get well established. The company has a range of 260 products. The toys are slated to be sold in Kochi (where it has received orders worth Rs 2.5 lakh), Tiruchi, Pondicherry and Bangalore in the south. An outlet was also opened in Coimbatore recently. Toys have also been displayed in other potential shopping centres like the Globus retail outlet in Chennai. These will be on display and use for a period of three months,after which Globus has an option of buying the products.

Institutional sales currently account for 50 per cent of the total sales. The company employs direct selling methods while also encouraging its franchisees to develop the market. All toys are innovative enough to capture the imagination of the child, are non-toxic with no sharp edges.

The company recently opened an exclusive showroom in Calcutta where other brands and accessories such as prams and hair bands are also sold. It has also pioneered the shop within a shop concept where exclusive corners are allotted in larger shops for touch and feel display and sales of Little Tikes toys. The company registered sales of Rs 2.5 crore in the first year of launch and has broken even, according to Tikmany.