Hot Wheels is letting consumers get personal with its brand at Manhattan’s FAO Schwarz store, giving kids the chance to customize Hot Wheel cars with new designs, rims and colors using touch-screen monitors.
Visitors to FAO Schwarz in New York City can design a car with the Hot Wheels Custom Car Factory Kiosk application. The touch screen technology, provided by Planar, a Beaverton, OR-based touch-screen manufacturer, lets kids choose a car design and make it their very own.
Each custom car, which costs $20 to make, comes complete with the customer’s name, a registration number and certificate of authenticity.
Over the last year, FAO Schwarz has sold more than 20,000 customized Hot Wheels using the Hot Wheels Custom Car Factory Kiosk. The Manhattan FAO Schwarz store has seven Hot Wheels Custom Car Factory kiosks throughout the store.
“The ability to customize something is very nice,” said Rob Baumgartner, director of operations and marketing for Planar. “It gets you more involved [with the product]. It’s another fun way to interact with the product. It clearly draws people in.”
The Hot Wheels Custom Car Factory kiosks only operate in the Manhattan FAO Schwarz store. A number of retail and online partners have expressed interest in developing the factories in other locations, but for now, Planar has no plans to offer the service beyond its New York location.
In-store signage supports.
Network
