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.