Lego is constructing something that involves more than tiny, colored bricks.

With the opening of its first Indiana store at Castleton Square Mall, it's building a strategy to boost sales of Legos, not only at that location but at other toy retailers in the Indianapolis market.

"It's a showroom in a high-traffic location keeping the brand name in front of customers," said Richard Feinberg, a retail professor at Purdue University.

The Castleton store, which is set to open by early April, is the Denmark-headquartered company's 53rd location.

The store is less about a retail experience and more about a hands-on experience, says Julie Stern, brand relations manager for Lego.

The Indianapolis Lego store will open in a 1,200-square-foot space near Macy's. It includes a Pick A Brick wall where kids can pack their own Lego set.

One of the most popular events at Lego stores happens the first Tuesday of each month, when the first 250 kids younger than 14 to walk through the doors get a free set of Legos.

Simon Property Group, which owns Castleton Square, said the state's first Lego store coming to the state's largest mall makes perfect sense because the mall is known to attract large numbers of young families.

Source:  IndyStar, January 13, 2011