As kids keep getting plugged into the Internet, toymakers are following them online.
At the annual American International Toy Fair in New York this week, toymakers showed playthings like Power Rangers helmets that store secret missions found online, plenty of online games and devices that take kids to secure websites where they can play activities without wandering into the darker corners of the Internet.
“Toy companies are looking at where kids are playing and targeting product against it. Younger and younger kids are becoming more comfortable with the Internet,” said New York-based toy consultant Chris Byrne.
Children as young as 3 years old are using the computer, said Julia Fitzgerald, vice president of marketing at VTech Holdings Ltd.
The company showcased the Whiz Kid Learning System, a learning pad that comes with a USB drive to connect to the computer, enabling books and activities to come to life.
Additional business news briefs:
HOUSTON
Part of gas pipeline in Colo., Wyo. opens
Kinder Morgan Energy Partners said a 192-mile segment of the Rockies Express Pipeline project between Wamsutter Hub in Sweetwater County, Wyo., and Cheyenne Hub in Weld County opened Wednesday.
The segment is part of the $4.4 billion, 1,663-mile pipeline to transport natural gas from producing basins in Wyoming and Colorado to the upper Midwest and eastern United States.
DENVER
Storms cost DIA nearly $2 million
Denver International Airport lost nearly $2 million in revenue because of the December snowstorms, which the airport estimates kept about 250,000 people from traveling, according to DIA chief financial officer Stan Koniz.
The airport estimates it missed out on about $1.1 million in passenger facility charges, $700,000 in rental-car and concessions revenue and $53,000 from parking.
DENVER
Measure disclosing nurse staffing killed
A state Senate committee on Wednesday unanimously voted down a bill that would have required hospitals statewide to disclose their nurse-staffing levels.
Hospitals throughout Colorado opposed the bill, contending that it would have increased administrative costs without improving patient care. Supporters, including bill sponsor Lois Tochtrop, D-Thornton, argued that the bill would have increased transparency.
DENVER
Frontier will offer Memphis trip in May
Frontier Airlines announced it will begin flying between Denver and Memphis, Tenn., twice daily starting May 12, along with new daily flights from Memphis to Las Vegas and from Memphis to Orlando, Fla.
Frontier expects the four daily flights will bring more than 50,000 passengers through Memphis annually. Frontier will fly the routes with its Airbus planes.
AVON
Slifer announces record sales in Jan.
Slifer Smith & Frampton, the largest real-estate firm in the Vail Valley, announced Tuesday it posted a record $381 million worth of sales in January.
Slifer’s Eagle County division posted $336 million in new written sales, including a $14 million home that sold in Bachelor Gulch. Its Summit County division had $45 million in sales.
DENVER
Brokerage reports sale of 3 retail centers
Real-estate brokerage Marcus & Millichap reported the sale of three retail centers.
Eagle Bend Marketplace, a Safeway-anchored shopping center in Aurora, was sold by Eagle Bend Marketplace LLC to EBM Properties LLC for $9.27 million. New Windsor Marketplace, a King Soopers-anchored center in Windsor, was sold by NSS Windsor Holdings LLC to Windsor Shoppes for $11 million. Parker Marketplace, consisting of 20,673 square feet of in-line retail shops in Parker, was sold by Meged Tal Investments LLC to Blair Family Properties II LLC for $4.5 million.
Marcus & Millichap broker Garrette Matlock handled the transactions.
DENVER
Spicy Pickle issues prospectus for IPO
Denver-based Spicy Pickle Franchising Inc. on Wednesday issued a prospectus related to its initial public offering.
The company plans to sell up to 10 million newly issued shares and up to 8.24 million shares currently held by existing shareholders.
In the prospectus, the company noted it has operated at a loss for the past two years and expects to have 27 franchised restaurants and three company-operated restaurants by the end of August.
GREENWOOD VILLAGE
SmartCare centers complete build-out
Greenwood Village-based SmartCare Family Medical Centers on Wednesday said it has completed the build-out and openings of its 15 walk-in medical centers on the Front Range.
The company also said that, in honor of National Heart Health Awareness Month in February, all SmartCare Centers will offer free heart-health screenings through Feb. 28.
DENVER
Anschutz firm sues author’s book agent
Denver entertainment mogul Philip Anschutz’s movie-production company sued Clive Cussler’s book agent Tuesday in a legal battle between the author and the billionaire.
In a suit filed in Denver District Court, Anschutz’s Bristol Bay Productions claims that the agent, Peter Lampack, inflated the number of books Cussler has sold to win a contract for a series of movies based on the author’s Dirk Pitt adventures.
COLORADO SPRINGS
Quantum to add 70 to staff of 350 in Springs
Data-storage manufacturer Quantum Corp. plans to add 70 employees to its 350-person workforce in Colorado Springs when it consolidates North American operations.
Brad Cohen, a spokesman for San Jose, Calif.-based Quantum, said Tuesday that the company would move its tape libraries, computer backup systems, customized product manufacturing, and repair operations to the city over the next six months.
WASHINGTON
Retail sales falter; inventories poor
Retail sales, hurt by a big drop in auto purchases, slowed at the start of the year, and business inventories turned in the poorest showing in 17 months, the Commerce Department said Wednesday.
