Under the deal, Magmatic’s Trunki product – the ride-on suitcase for globe-trotting tots – will now be manufactured in America as well as China. The factory in New Jersey means that the company will be able to react a lot quicker to market demand in North and South America as well as the Caribbean. It also cuts out import duties, so Trunki can retail at the same price in both the UK and the States.

Magmatic founder and Trunki designer Rob Law comments: “Melissa & Doug is a formidable force in the US toy market. As soon as we saw how much they valued our products, we were confident Trunki would be safe in their hands.

“Our range of revolutionary, boredom-busting products are designed to help change the way families travel, and our vision is to create innovative, affordable products that both engage and educate. It’s fantastic to find an American company that understands and shares this vision with us, and we’ve no doubt that signing on the dotted line with Melissa & Doug will work wonders for increasing our global market share.”

The US range is currently available in Macy’s, one of America’s biggest department stores, as well as 360 Toys R Us stores, and 15,000 mom and pop stores across the US. Thanks to Melissa & Doug’s influence in the US market, the Trunki wheels are set in motion for full distribution in Kohl’s from the start of 2011, too.

Magmatic experienced an increase in sales of over 300 per cent in the first half of the 2010. Founded by Rob Law in 2006, the company has been shortlisted for the Young Company of the Year gong in our 2010 Growing Business Awards.

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