A popular New York-based business will soon make its Georgia debut. CAMP, described as "A Family Experience Company," is part toy store, part activity center: a true "experiential" retailer. The company chose Ashford Lane in Dunwoody to launch the business locally.
In Ashford Lane, Camp will, according to planning documents, measure about 14,000 square feet and occupy most of a onetime La-Z-Boy. Research indicates the Dunwoody CAMP will be the company's largest location to date.
The new Dunwoody outpost will be just the ninth location nationwide. Existing CAMP locations include 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, Columbus Circle, Paramus (New Jersey), South Norwalk (Connecticut), Boston, Dallas, and Los Angeles. (The company previously closed an outpost at the beleaguered Hudson Yards project in New York City)
Ben Kaufman, 36, CAMP's co-founder and CEO, launched the business with his wife Nikki in 2018. Prior to founding CAMP, Kaufman was the Chief Marketing Officer at BuzzFeed. Ben also founded electronics accessory company Mophie, and Quirky, an invention platform that connected inventors with companies.
We here at ToNeTo Atlanta, like Kaufman, grew up in the 90s and fondly recall visits to stores like LearningSmith, Store of Knowlege and Zany Brainy, in addition to Toys R Us, KB Toys and FAO Schwarz. The explosion of ecommerce shopping, specifically Amazon, has caused many brick & mortar retailers to shutter.
CAMP hopes to be the answer to parents looking for a modern-day toy store with the addition of a Discovery Zone-like activity with a variety of rotating themed experiences. According to the CAMP website, the company currently has partnerships with Disney, Nike and Paw Patrol, among others, with whom it collaborates both on activities and merchandise at each CAMP location.
According to online materials the company may also offer "mommy-and-me yoga sessions, cookie decorating classes, appearances by children’s book authors, musical performances and offers “date night drop-off” babysitting services on the weekends."
The Atlanta CAMP is already listed on the company's website with several job postings including for a "store experience associate" and "store manager, programming" as well as "Casting Guitarists and Multi-Instrumentalists for a Disney x CAMP Immersive/Interactive Musical Production." A source at an existing CAMP location indicates the Dunwoody outpost is slated to open in June.
CAMP made news last month when Kaufman took to social media and the company's email customer list to express his urgent need for capital in light of the company's exposure in the failure of Silicon Valley Bank, the firm that held basically all of CAMP's capital. In a "BANKRUN" Instagram post, Kaufman offered a 40 % discount. The promotion worked with CAMP seeing more sales in the following 48 hours than it typically sees in a month.
When it opens, CAMP will join Hawkers, an Asian street food restaurant which debuted this past Monday in the Ashford Lane project. Later this summer/fall, new locations of both Grana and Culinary Dropout, as well as "The Hall," a heavily delayed food hall, are also expected to open in the Target anchored project previously known as Perimeter Place.
Have you ever been to CAMP? Did you know that the former CEO and founders of Zany Brainy are the creators of Five Below? Are you excited for the opening of CAMP in Atlanta?
Please share your thoughts.