Asia for Kids launches spin-off

Eight years after launching Asia for Kids, a catalog selling Asian-themed books, CDs, and toys for youngsters, founder/CEO Selina Yoon is going broader. In October, Yoon’s company, Master Communications, debuted Culture for Kids. The new title sells multilingual books, tapes, and CDs in more than 30 languages as well as books, posters, and teaching aids related to hundreds of countries.

Yoon had planned to introduce Culture for Kids in the autumn of 2001, but she delayed the debut following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The 300,000-piece mailing went to the entire Asia for Kids mailing list as well as to prospects. Yoon initially piggybacked Culture for Kids with Asia for Kids, bundling them together, but she now plans to give Culture for Kids its own identity.

“The overall response has been positive,” Yoon says, and the launch is on plan. The catalog’s average order is expected to be around $80; its price points vary widely from $1 to $450.

Yoon used only inhouse talent to launch Culture for Kids, which she says may have been overly ambitious. For instance, the company may have benefited from hiring consultants to help with the operations issues involved with rolling out a spin-off. “We added more than 1,000 SKUs overnight, and we had a lot of people running around,” Yoon says, though she adds, “That’s now in control.”