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When a brand buys back its own playgrounds, you know it means business. The LEGO® Group is pulling 29 LEGO® Discovery Centres and LEGOLAND® Discovery Centres back under its wing, snapping them up from Merlin Entertainments. These family-friendly hubs pull in five million visitors each year across nine countries. Now, instead of outsourcing the fun, LEGO® wants to run the show itself.
A Brand Owning Its Story
For years, Merlin has been LEGO®’s theme park wingman, running the Discovery Centres since the first one opened in Berlin in 2007. But this new £0.2 billion deal (about €234 million, $244 million, AU$375 million, DKK 1.75 billion, SEK 2.64 billion, PLN 1.06 billion, BRL 1.35 billion) means the brick giant wants tighter control over how its fans build memories. Each centre is basically a hybrid of play lab and shop, with hands-on building zones, massive LEGO® builds, and retail therapy stacked wall to wall.
Merlin Isn’t Leaving the Party
This doesn’t mean Merlin is out. They’ll keep running the big-ticket LEGOLAND® Resorts worldwide, including the shiny new one in Shanghai. Think of it as a division of labor: LEGO® handles the compact, city-based playgrounds; Merlin sticks with sprawling roller coasters, dragon coasters, and oversized minifigures that swallow weekends. Both sides get to focus on what they do best.
Why This Move Matters
The shift tells you something about how retail is evolving. Physical stores aren’t just for shopping anymore. They’re becoming entertainment hubs. LEGO® already runs a global network of brand stores. Adding 29 more mega-playrooms fits the plan to give fans a reason to visit in person, not just click “add to cart.” When shopping becomes play and play becomes shopping, you create loyalty, and maybe a few more AFOLs who “accidentally” build a €400 Star Wars set while their kids are distracted by a LEGO® Friends unicorn carousel.
Back in the Family
In a sense, LEGO® is building a house of bricks it already designed. The Discovery Centres started as a partnership, but now they’re coming full circle. LEGO® controlled by Merlin is fun. LEGO® controlled by LEGO® is strategy. After all, no one tells your brand story better than you, especially when that story is written in plastic bricks that never stop clicking together.
So, what do you think? Are Discovery Centres better off run directly by LEGO® or was Merlin’s touch part of the magic? Would you visit one now that the mothership is in charge?
