The Classic Lego Brick Falling Apart

Lego is a recognizable childhood classic toy, but the company has recently been on a decline. Revenue has dropped  in parts of the U.S, China, and Europe. It sounds like a small percentage, but that will cause the end of 1,400 employees to lose their jobs before the end of the year, according to the New York times The company’s net worth dropped to 2.4 billion, the first decline of the product in 13 years, according to the latimes.com.

Lego was created in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen; however one of his grandsons, Kjeld Kristiansen, now owns the company. Lego has come a long way since it was created, making this year the 85th Anniversary of the company.

Lego is one of the biggest toy manufacturers in the world today. In 2000, it was named the “Toy of the Century” twice by the Fortune magazine and the British Association of Toy Retailers.

Their website proclaims that their mission is, “to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow.” Today, they have over 18,000 employees in more than 70 nations and Legos are sold in more than 120 countries worldwide.

Lego has popular themes that all kids, teenagers, and adults would like depending on their interest: Star Wars-themed sets, Ninjago, City, Batman, Nexo Knights, and tons more.

The largest Legoland park opened in 2011 in Florida. Lego launched its first movie on February 7th 2014, called “The Lego Movie,” hitting the box office with 469.2 million dollars. Following that, the “Lego Batman Movie” hit 388.1 million dollars on February 10th, 2017. Their next movie to premiere is “The Lego Ninjago Movie,” which is expected to hit 40 million its first 3 days, according to BoxOffice.Pro, which will make its debut September 22, 2017.   

There are many reasons why there has been a decline in the company’s value. The Lego company has become too complex over the years, and some of the Lego movies haven’t been as big of a hit as they expected.

“We are very sorry to make changes- Our colleagues put so much passion into their work every day and we are deeply grateful for that. Unfortunately, it is essential for us to make these tough decisions,” said Jorgen Vig Knudstorp, Executive Chairman of Lego and former CEO. “We’re very focused on making a smaller and more simple organization and also do a cleanup of our inventory positions in some markets,” Knudstorp told CNBC. Any of those workers who were let go will be able to find another job outside the company. Lego is still a popular internationally renowned company and will regrow stronger with these changes.

Many Milford High School students have loved Legos since they were very young. 

¨I heard about them when I was really young, maybe 5 or 6,” says Brien Smith, a Junior robotics member talking about the classic brick. ¨They made me love putting things together and figuring out how things work. It has impacted my joining of the robotics team.¨ Says Smith. When he heard about the stocks dropping, “Im sad that such an impactful company is losing its value.”  Smith concludes. “I want to see Lego improve themselves by getting in on the online aspects, and bring just as much joy into children’s lives as it did my own.”