A New York-based Toy Store has slashed its prices in a desperate bid to stay afloat following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
Camp toy store fired off an email to customers on Friday telling them to use the tongue-in-cheek discount code ‘BANKRUN’ to save 40 percent on their merchandise.
The firm – which has collaborated with multiple high-profile celebrities including Drew Barrymore and Neil Patrick Harris – said much of its cash was tied up in SVB, which became the largest bank to fail in the U.S since the 2008 financial crisis.
On Friday it urged customers to make purchases which it said would be processed via rival bank Chase.
‘Unfortunately, we had most of our company’s cash assets at a bank which just collapsed. I’m sure you’ve heard the news,’ co-founder Ben Kaufman said in an email.
New York toy store Camp, pictured, has slashed its prices by 40 percent to cope with the fallout of its bank Silicon Valley Bank
An advert on the store’s Instagram account urges customers to use the tongue-in-cheek discount code ‘bankrun’
Co-founder Ben Kaufman also emailed customers urging them to take advantage of the sale
‘All sales from this point forward will deposit into Chase and allow us to generate the a cash needed to continue operations so we can continue to deliver unforgettable family memories.’
Customers were told they could either take advantage of the discount or pay full price to help the business stay afloat.
Kaufman, who was previously chief marketing officer at Buzzfeed, added it would be ‘appreciated’ if they chose the latter option.
He signed off the post: ‘Load up on cheap toys, birthday gifts etc – all while helping CAMP. Everybody wins?’
On Friday night the store’s site temporarily crashed due to high demand.
‘Our site has crashed from all the support, thank you all.” read a post on its Instagram page.
Camp is a venture capital-backed firm that opened its first store in 2018.
It is an experiential toy store that offers a range of children’s birthday parties, scavenger hunts and other events.
And it has collaborated with a range of celebrities on events including LeBron James, Drew Barrymore and Neil Patrick Harris.
In 2020 Barrymore did a make-up challenge blindfolded for an event run by the toy store and Walmart.
Its popularity rocketed in the pandemic when it hosted over 50,000 virtual birthday parties and sold more than 500,000 activity books.
Concerned customers questioned whether the panicked sale marked the death-knell for the beloved toy store – but employees were quick to reassure them they will ‘ride the wave’ of the SVB collapse.
Replying to one comment, the firm said: ‘Camp expects to be around for the long haul.
‘We are confident we will ride this wave and our hopeful that we will be running at regular speed again by next week.’
Police attended the bank’s California headquarters on Friday after furious tech entrepreneurs showed up to its door step
SVP CEO Greg Becker successfully lobbied congress in 2015 to lessen the scrutiny on his business
It comes after panic rocked the financial sector Friday after the sudden collapse of SVB.
The bank was sensationally shut down by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation which placed its remaining assets under the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s control.
The crisis was sparked after it disclosed a $1.8 billion loss on its bold holdings this week.
CEO Greg Becker had urged investors on a Thursday conference call to ‘stay calm’ and not ‘panic.’
But it caused jittery clients to withdraw large balances to avoid any losses.
Deposits up to $250,000 are protected by federal law – but anyone with larger sums tied up now faces loses their money.
Dozens of customers were yesterday filmed lining up outside a branch to withdraw whatever cash they had to get out ahead of the fall-out.
Meanwhile police were called to the bank’s headquarters after a group of disgruntled tech founders turned up on the doorstep.
But it is ordinary families that will suffer the most from the crisis, with lots of small business start-ups and online sellers left in limbo over the collapse.
Online marketplace Etsy was forced to freeze some transactions on its site, leaving sellers struggling to pay their bills.
On Friday Etsy was forced to email its sellers to inform them their payments were being frozen because the firm relied on the bank for some of its accounts.
Sellers said the freeze meant they were unable to pay their mortgages and left him worried about how to feed their families.
Becker has also come under fire after it emerged he successfully lobbied congress in 2015 to lessen the scrutiny on businesses like his.
He insisted at the time that ‘enhanced prudential standards’ should be lifted ‘given the low risk profile of our activities’.
It was also revealed Becker had sold $3.57m of stock in a pre-planned, automated sell-off two weeks before the bank collapsed – and the CFO ditched $575,000 the same day.
Becker sold 12,451 shares at an average price of $287.42 each on February 27.
The price plunged to just $39.49 in premarket on Friday before the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) seized the bank’s assets. It closed at $15.
Federal records obtained by The Lever showed that Becker had spent more than half a million dollars on federal lobbying in 2015-18.
The money was well spent: SVB obtained the light-touch regulation it wanted.
Becker told Congress about ‘SVB’s deep understanding of the markets it serves, our strong risk management practices.
