Warner Bros. enters local retail business
Warner Bros. enters local retail business
By Hyginus Hardoyo
JAKARTA (JP): Good news for lovers of Warner Bros. cartoon
characters. Products featuring animated characters from Batman
and Bugs Bunny to Tweety are on sale here.
The products, for people of all ages, can be found at Warner
Bros. Studio Store Jakarta at the Taman Anggrek Mall in Tomang,
West Jakarta. It is the first store of the United States-based
Warner Bros. Studio Stores chain to open in Indonesia.
The store, boasting a Hollywood-like setting, officially
opened Thursday night with a ribbon cutting ceremony officiated
by the United States Ambassador to Indonesia, Roy Stapleton.
The ceremony was highlighted by the performance of Movie World
artists from Australia and was attended by hundreds of guests,
including government officials, local artists and business
executives.
Built on a 1,000 square meter plot on the ground floor of the
Taman Anggrek Mall, the two-story store is arranged to resemble a
movie studio back lot, complete with scenic gurneys, gaffers'
equipment and prop trolleys.
Sylvie Cecilia, a spokeswoman for PT Putra Warner Perkasa
which manages the store, said hundreds of products -- ranging
from apparel and giftware to collectible artwork -- are
creatively displayed.
Items are imaginatively presented in bomb and heart-shaped
packaging. Such packaging is very suitable for those intending to
give unique gifts on birthdays or other occasions to their loved
ones.
For children, the T-shirts are offered in packaging resembling
Batman's infamous Batmobile. "Besides wearing the gifts, children
can still use these car-shaped packages as toys," Cecilia said.
The most prominent among the merchandise is a selection of
clothing, jewelry and personal accessories, sporting goods,
collectibles and memorabilia featuring animated characters from
Looney Tunes, including Bugs Bunny.
"Merchandise prices range from Rp 3,500 (US$1.50) for small
gift items to Rp 23 million for original works," she said.
According to Cecilia, the store's main attraction is the art
gallery, which features an exhibition of original animation
"cells", the individual celluloid motion picture frames created
by animation artists and directors from Warner Bros. and Hanna-
Barbera Studios.
Also available to collectors in the gallery section are
contemporary artwork, fine gifts and designer jewelry.
Inside the store, a giant video wall presents a continuous
program of feature film trailers, music videos and clips from
classic movies and cartoons.
In the children's area on the second floor, a computerized
touch-screen coloring station invites children of all ages to
"paint" their own on-screen animation cell.
As a company in the forefront of motion picture, television
and video production, Warner Bros. is striving to bring its
properties and its audience together in an imaginative way.
Cecilia expressed confidence that the success of the Warner
Bros. Studio Store Jakarta would grow steadily, given the
popularity of the Warner Bros. properties and characters in the
country.
"We are planning to open six other stores in the country over
the next five years," she said.
At present, Warner Bros. operates 138 stores in the United
States, 11 in Europe, two in Australia and 10 in Asia (Japan,
Hong Kong and Singapore), Cecilia said. Another 15 new stores are
scheduled to be opened worldwide this year alone.
PT Putra Warner Perkasa, the owner of the Warner Bros. Studio
Store Jakarta, is a joint venture between the widely diversified
PT Putra Surya Perkasa (PSP) and Warner Bros. Studio Stores of
the United States.
The PSP group deals with a wide variety of interests,
comprising retailing, property development and consumer finance.
Warner Bros. Consumer Products, which includes a licensing
division, studio stores, and toy and interactive entertainment
divisions, is a division of Time Warner Entertainment Company.
Dan Romanelli, president of Warner Bros. Consumer Products,
said the studio stores represent a significant factor in the
growth of the consumer products division.
"When we open stores internationally, they create attention
and excitement. They showcase the Warner Bros. brands in what has
become known as a unique shopping and entertainment experience,"
he said.
Cecilia further said that by opening the Warner Bros. Studio
Store in Jakarta, the company did not intend to compete with the
Disney company, a producer of similar cartoon character-related
products which has a long-term presence in Indonesia.
"We co-exist between one another with our own special
characteristics," said another Warner Bros. spokesperson.
Like the Disney company, Warner Bros. is also cooperating with
local companies to produce products featuring Warner Bros.
cartoon characters under a licensing arrangement, Cecilia said.
The only difference is that Warner Bros. now has its own store
in Indonesia which is jointly managed with a local partner,
something not done by the Disney company here, she added.