Specialty toy store doubles space with expansion

Less than two years after opening, a specialty toy store devoted to Lego bricks has expanded its Queen City footprint.

The Springfield shop of Bricks & Minifigs, a nationwide chain of stores where customers can buy, sell and trade new and used Lego pieces, sets and minifigures, held a grand opening on Dec. 28 for its expanded space at 1570 E. Battlefield Road, Ste. E, in the Galleria Shopping Center.

Phil Vice, who is a franchisee of the local store with his wife, Tiffany, said the expansion doubled the location’s size to 6,400 square feet. The franchisees knocked down the wall of the next-door suite, previously occupied by Soulfire Hair Co. & Esthetics LLC, to accommodate the desired growth. Vice said the hair salon moved to another location within the shopping center.

“We’d been looking at expanding. We had talked to corporate about seven different possible locations in other cities, which is of course a lot more work than just expanding next door,” Vice said. “About six months into our opening, we realized we have more than enough product. We can definitely expand or open another store. We’ve just been squeezed in.”

Expansion costs were roughly $50,000, Vice said, noting aside from more space to display and sell inventory, the addition allows for a larger party room. The store’s original party room could fit only about 20 people, about half of what the new space provides.

“That limited the types of things we could do as far as having school field trips and classes and bigger parties, corporate events. When we knew we could expand, one of the first ideas we had was let’s map out what the expanded party room would look like,” he said. “This one’s over 800 square feet now and is going to allow us to do a whole lot of clubs, classes, bigger parties, events. It’s one of the things we’re the most excited about.”

The couple invested $200,000 in startup costs, which included a $25,000 franchise fee, upon opening the store in February 2023, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. They remain on a five-year lease for an undisclosed rate with Warren Davis Properties LLC. 

Bricks & Minifigs, which opened its first shop in 2010, has over 160 locations in the U.S., with more than 30 listed as coming soon, according to its website. The Springfield shop is one of two open in Missouri.

Aside from its physical space, Vice said his store also is growing in revenue and its number of employees. Revenue for 2024 finished around $1.4 million, he said, up from its debut year, which was less than 11 months, and brought in just under $1 million. Upon opening, the shop had four employees and has since increased to a staff of 11, he said.

However, despite the growth, Vice said opening additional locations aren’t among current plans.

“At this point, we are really happy just having as big of a space as we have. So, we want to sort of make this one run the most efficiently that we can,” he said. “We’ll do other things like start doing some online sales and bringing in types of events that are even maybe a little bit beyond Lego.”