How Learning Express Toys Unified 68 Locations and Reached 75% Adoption in Weeks

Overview

Learning Express Toys is the largest specialty toy franchise in the U.S., with over 80 stores nationwide. Unlike big-box retailers, every Learning Express store is locally owned, with high quality, carefully curated toys and services like free gift wrap, birthday boxes, and personalized gifts.

But as the brand grew, its outdated marketing platform became a bottleneck. Adoption lagged, posting was inconsistent, and HQ had little visibility into how franchisees were engaging customers online.

The team needed a modern, scalable system that unified marketing across the network, gave stores freedom to localize, and proved that digital activity could translate into real business outcomes.

75%

Monthly active users on platform

68%

Content published through the platform

25%

Jump in social media engagement

24.5%

More website clicks QoQ

The Challenge: Fragmentation at Scale

As Learning Express Toys grew, marketing became increasingly fragmented. National campaigns often fell flat because assortments varied store by store, while while busy, hands-on store owners needed assistance managing their social presence.

Some locations went weeks without posting, leaving HQ blind to what was working and unable to connect activity back to ROI. The result was varied marketing efforts, a need for greater franchisee support, and a digital presence that lacked the cohesion of the in-store experience.

PromoRepublic gave us a system to scale marketing while still keeping it local to each store and simple for owners to use. Now stores are more consistent and have a stronger, more cohesive online presence.”

Reilly Bailey,
Marketing & Communications Manager, Learning Express Toys

The Solution: A Hybrid Approach

PromoRepublic helped Learning Express find the balance between brand control and local relevance.

A hybrid content model allowed HQ to distribute branded campaigns while giving franchisees the tools to adapt them to their unique assortments.

A mobile-first app made it easy for store owners to approve and publish on the go, keeping pace with daily store operations.

Structured onboarding, webinars and playbooks built confidence and turned new processes into long-term habits.

Most importantly, the rollout was fast. HQ was live in a month, and the entire network onboarded in just six weeks — proving that adoption at scale doesn’t have to take months or years.

The Impact: A Unified, Measurable System

With PromoRepublic, Learning Express Toys quickly established a repeatable system that worked for both HQ and franchisees. The combination of consistency and local relevance translated directly into better visibility and stronger customer connections.

Sustained adoption

~75% active franchisees every month.

Content consistency

60–68% of all posts published via PromoRepublic, month after month.

Greater online discovery

Mobile views QoQ +19,8%, Website clicks QoQ growth 24,5%, Calls QoQ +28%.

Faster service response

Response time +12.3% QoQ.

Deeper community engagement

25% jump in social media interactions.

The network now runs on a unified, measurable marketing engine — proof that even mid-sized specialty brands can modernize tools, sustain adoption, and drive ROI across every location.

Your franchise network could see the same results.

PromoRepublic gives franchise leaders one system to unify locations, prove ROI, and drive visibility that converts.