Baton Rouge brand Tatro Toys eyeing a comeback
A Baton Rouge-founded toy company that shut down during the pandemic is preparing for a relaunch.
Tatro Toys founder Will Barrios says he operated the business for about five years before sales began to decline.
“Our profit margin was too high,” Barrios says. “The sales just dwindled in the last year of COVID, and I had to close it down. It was time to move on for a little bit. I’ve got the itch back and have had a soft relaunch.”
|
|
Barrios says the brand’s new focus is on diversity and representation in the toy aisle.
“Walking down the toy aisle, there are still very traditional narratives being told, and I want to present a toy that speaks to modern families and the representation we have in the world today,” he says. “In this soft relaunch, I’ve given myself a really long runway to create this toy.”
Tatro Toys is not yet selling products but is building community conversations around inclusion with a goal of releasing a new toy in 2026.
The brand recently introduced an e-book featuring its mascot, Flicker the fox, which encourages kids to use imagination to feel seen and heard. Coming this fall are several projects tied to the relaunch, including: a Flicker stuffed toy, “Spark of Imagination” music video and a Little Flicker full album release.
Barrios has been balancing the relaunch with work in prop design for touring Broadway productions, which has kept him on the road for the past three years. He first envisioned a toy brand at age 10 and launched Tatro Toys less than a decade ago with magnetic play sets.
“The one word that I always used for the toy company was joy, and that’s always what I wanted to provide to kids,” Barrios says. “I had to think long and hard about how I would reenter the toy market—how I would present it in a new way that is relevant today and meaningful.”
This story was originally published by Daily Report on Aug. 29. To keep up with Baton Rouge business news, subscribe to the free Daily Report e-newsletter here.
|
|
|
