Dear Hasbro: Bring Monopoly, Candy Land, and Scrabble back home to Massachusetts
way of Massachusetts companies you acquired long ago.
These board games were part of
Now there's a chance to bring 'Rich Uncle' Pennybags (aka Mr. Monopoly),
Miss Scarlett, and Professor Plum back home.
Being in Pawtucket, you might not realize this, but it would be a very
town.
We were listening to
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Alas, we continue to wait.
Sure, Boston is home to Fidelity Investments, State Street, DraftKings, New Balance, Vertex, and Wayfair, among many others, but
Lego, the world's largest toy company, will soon be here. The Danish firm
is uprooting its North American headquarters from Enfield, Conn., to a
While I'd like to think Lego is in Boston because
everything is awesome
, the toy giant made the move for the same reason Hasbro is looking to be here:
It's
so
hard to recruit and retain the best and brightest if you're in Connecticut or Rhode Island. We more than hold our own against Rhode Island in terms of
restaurants, museums, parks, pro sports teams, beaches, and so many direct flights out of Logan Airport.
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But the pièce de résistance for any ambitious company is our unmatched abundance of brainpower.
We have the most highly educated workforce in the country. We've got homegrown talent, and if that weren't enough, every year we have kids from all over the world showing up to study at Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Tufts, and Northeastern, among others. And when they're finished with their studies, many want to stay in Boston.
You get it. You went to Harvard. So you know how
smaht
we are.
But we know how to launch a charm offensive, too. Governor Maura Healey and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu have both called you to make the case to relocate here.
100 Summer St. in downtown Boston is a potential site for Hasbro's new headquarters.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
If you think Hasbro's future is in online games, nothing compares to being in Boston. Hasbro may be synonymous with board games and toys like My Little Pony, Transformers, and Nerf, but video games are a lifelong pursuit. I just look at what happened to my two boys.
Starting at the age of 8, they stopped playing with their Legos and toy soldiers. Now 12 and 14, they are all about Roblox, Fortnite, and NBA 2K25 — video games they will likely play versions of for the rest of their lives.
I know every CEO likes a good deal. But relocating your headquarters shouldn't be about which state can offer the
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You come to Boston if you believe the toy company's future is in interactive entertainment and online games. As CEO, you know better than anyone that has to be Hasbro's destiny.
Why else would you leave Microsoft, where you worked on Xbox games, to come to Hasbro in 2016 as president of the Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming division?
Hasbro's traditional toy division remains bigger by revenue than digital gaming, but the trend is clear: Growth in toys is limited, while the sky is the limit for online games.
Now that you've been CEO for three years, it's time to accelerate the transition to being more of a digital-first company. Consider that the size of the traditional US toy market was
Tom Dusenberry — who started on the loading dock of Parker Brothers and rose to run Hasbro Interactive in Beverly before it was sold in 2001 — remembers when Hasbro acquired Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley and shuttered their Massachusetts offices. So he gets the impact of a potential move.
'Rhode Island's feeling a little bit of what we all felt like ... and it hurts, no question about it,' said Dusenberry, who worked at Hasbro for more than 25 years in Massachusetts and now runs his own toy consultancy in Salem. 'It's a short-term hurt, and people go on and life goes on, and Hasbro needs to recognize that. From a company point of view, they are so much better off as a gaming company, and they need this relocation to reset themselves.'
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No one said this decision would be easy. At least it's not a cross-country move, and some employees already live in Massachusetts. Even for Rhode Islanders, the commute should be doable, and our public transit is much improved!
Hasbro, you belong here. Come help make Massachusetts more fun.
A view of 400 Summer St. in Boston's Seaport, another potential location for Hasbro's new headquarters.
David L. Ryan/Globe Staff
----------
Shirley Leung is a Business columnist and host of the Globe Opinion podcast 'Say More with Shirley Leung.' Find the podcast on
,
, and
. Follow her on Threads
Shirley Leung is a Business columnist. She can be reached at
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