Keegan Lupa, 5, gets into a Radio Flyer children’s Tesla electric car with the help of Anne Goodman in the race track room at the company’s new store inside Woodfield Mall, Nov. 8, 2023, in Schaumburg. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
By Talia Soglin | Chicago Tribune
Radio Flyer is banking on bricks-and-mortar in Schaumburg, where the little red wagon maker will open the first retail location of its 106-year history.
Radio Flyer will sell stroller wagons, tricycles, scooters, go-karts and bikes from the 15,000-square-foot location on the first floor of Woodfield Mall, which is set to open Friday. The store will also feature a racetrack and a bike shop where shoppers can test ride products.
“We feel like it’s a great time for people to reconnect with us in a different way, in a physical store where they can touch and see the products,” said Robert Pasin, chief wagon officer.
Pasin, who has run the company since 1997, is the grandson of Antonio Pasin, a carpenter who launched the company under the name Liberty Coaster on Chicago’s West Side in 1917, three years after he immigrated from Italy.
The company is still based on Grand Avenue in Belmont Cragin, where workers at its prototype shop develop new products. Radio Flyer does not manufacture its own toys, which are made mostly in China but also in the U.S., Pasin said. The company completed a renovation of its headquarters in 2017.
The original steel red wagon is no longer a bestseller.
Read more here.
Editorial note: The Tesla Model 2 pictured above starts at $499.99. It comes in 4 colors and has options including a customized parking sign ($25)!
The weight capacity is listed at 81 lbs., so as enticing as it might be, it’s impractical for use by Cecola or Riff. However, we’re told the parking signs can be purchased separately, and we’ve no doubt that will be of interest to them. If so, we suggest they order at least five (5) of these to start.
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