A plush toy modeled after the animated aardvark known as Arthur and a video of the "Riverdance" production are two of the stronger selling new products at the stores.
Another learning-oriented company--the Bethesda, Md.-based Discovery Communications Inc., operator of the Discovery Channel--also has a rapid retail roll-out. Since venturing into the business in 1995, it has opened 17 stores in the U.S. and one in Britain. The chain offers a wide range of products, including videos, books, CD-ROMs and educational kits.
The company is building a flagship store in Washington, D.C. The three-level store will recreate the look of life in the sea and underground on one level, terrestrial life on another, and outer space, aviation and science on the third.
That store will open in February and a second flagship store--in San Francisco--will open in November 1998.
"We've had modest profits thus far," said company spokesman Jim Boyle.
Viacom is the latest company to enter the retail arena; it opened its first Viacom Entertainment Store in Chicago in May. The store offers products based on Viacom's many properties--Star Trek, MTV, Paramount Studios and Nickelodeon.