 | |
| Industry | Retail |
|---|---|
| Founded | August 23, 1993 |
| Defunct | June 8, 2001 |
| Fate | Bankruptcy, liquidated |
| Headquarters | Cerritos, California, United States |
| Products | Toys; educational products |
| Owners | KCET; Lakeshore Learning Materials; Riordan, Lewis & Haden |
| Website | storeofknowledge.com (archived) |
Store of Knowledge Inc. (SOK) was an American retail chain selling educational items and children's toys. Owned and operated by a company of the same name based in Cerritos, California, SOK was in business between 1994 and 2001. At its closure, it operated 91 stores in 25 states and Washington, D.C.
The majority of SOK stores were operated in association with public television stations in the local areas where they were constructed, though later SOK built or purchased some stores with no public television affiliation. The chain had 27 of these partnerships throughout the United States. Deals with local stations varied but typically involved partial ownership of the store and a share of proceeds, attractive at a time when public stations nationally were looking for new income sources in response to potential federal funding cuts. The chain was co-owned by public television station KCET in Los Angeles; Lakeshore Learning Materials; and private equity firm Riordan, Lewis & Haden.
Despite space in premier malls in major markets and having outlasted rival chain Learningsmith (later acquiring some of its leases), SOK failed at the same time as some of its direct competitors, notably Zany Brainy, amid a soft economy and a downturn in the market for educational children's toys.