By Randy Tucker
Enquirer staff writer

Northern Kentucky-based toy seller Johnny's Toys, is set to open yet another chapter in its toy story with a new location at Cincinnati Mills.

The 75,000-square-foot store will occupy the top level of the former Elder-Beerman department store, which pulled out of the 1.5 million-square-foot retail center in Forest Park last year after the mall was acquired for $69.4 million by The Mills Corp. of Arlington, Va.

Mills has repositioned the former Forest Fair Mall as a regional shopping and entertainment destination, and it is slated to reopen Thursday with up to 15 anchors, 200 specialty retailers and a variety of theme restaurants and family attractions.

Johnny's will fit right in, said Mills chairman and CEO Larry Siegel.

"We find that by catering to children, you really do bring the entire family out to the mall, which results in a more productive experience for all of the merchants," Siegel said.

Owner Tom Martin said Johnny's - with locations in Greenhills and Latonia, where it also has its headquarters - will experiment with a new concept at the Cincinnati Mills store.

"For one thing, the store will be twice the size of any of our other stores," Martin said. "And it will be set up with a series of toy boutiques throughout the store, with a lot more items out of the package for kids to try.

"We'll even have a live performance stage for puppet shows and other performances."

Martin compared the Cincinnati Mills store in size and scope to Pennsylvania-based toy merchant FAO Schwarz, which is famous for the giant stuffed animals that greet customers as they enter the stores.

The new Johnny's will erect a 10-foot-tall, 14-foot-long toy elephant at the entrance to the store.

Martin said the new store will allow Johnny's to reach out to new customers and position the company to respond to a shifting industry landscape in which many toy retailers are struggling to survive amid intense price competition from discount behemoths Wal-Mart and Target.

Even the market leaders, such as FAO Schwarz and Toys "R" Us, are reeling from the onslaught by discounters who sell many of the same toys at much lower prices.

FAO Schwarz declared bankruptcy late last year and has sold most of its assets, blaming a soft holiday shopping season and increased competition. KB Toys followed suit in January.

And just this week, Toys "R" Us said it might sell off its toy store business to focus on its lucrative Babies "R" Us stores.

So far, Johnny's says it has bucked the trend with an innovative approach and focus on new and interesting products.

"Johnny's has always changed with the times in retailing in order to survive," said Martin, "and that's what we're doing now."

E-mail rtucker@enquirer.com