<P> October 2002 saw a significant change in The Lego Group's direct retail policy with the opening of the first so - called Lego Brand Store in Cologne, Germany . The second, in Milton Keynes, UK, followed quickly--several dozen more opened worldwide over the next few years, and most of the existing stores have been remodelled on the new Brand Store template . One of the distinctive features of these new stores is the inclusion of a "Pick - A-Brick" system that allows customers to buy individual bricks in bulk quantities . How a customer buys Lego pieces at a Pick - A-Brick is quite simple: customers fill a large or small cup or bag with their choice of Lego bricks from a large and varied selection and purchase it . The opening of most of these stores, including the 2003 opening of one in the Birmingham Bull Ring shopping centre in England, have been marked by the production of a new, special, limited edition, commemorative Lego DUPLO piece . Lego opened the first brand store in its home country Denmark in Copenhagen on 13 December 2010 . There are 2 stores in Austria, 1 store in Belgium, 12 stores in Germany, 13 stores in the United Kingdom, 6 stores in France, 2 stores in Spain, 1 store in Sweden, and 1 store in Denmark for a total of 38 stores in Europe . In 2016, 2 stores have been opened in Milan (Italy) and another in Verona (Italy) </P> <P> In 1992, when the Mall of America opened in Bloomington, Minnesota, one of its premier attractions was the Lego Imagination Center (LIC). An imagination centre is a large Lego store with displays of Lego sculptures and a play area with bins of bricks to build with . The store inventory includes a large selection of Lego sets for sale, including sets which are advertised in Lego catalogues as "Not Available In Any Store ." A second imagination centre opened at the Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida . Between 1999 and 2005, Lego opened 24 further stores in North America in 23 states . As of 2016, there are 90 Lego stores operating or soon - to - be operating in North America in 32 US states and five Canadian provinces . These stores sell various Lego merchandise, including minifigures, Pick - a-Brick, and custom packaged minifigures . </P> <P> The first Lego store in India was opened in Chennai, Tamil Nadu in March 2014 by Funskool, under licence from the Lego Group . </P> <P> In 2003, The Lego Group faced a budget deficit of 1.4 billion DKK (220 million USD at then current exchange rates; equal to EUR 175 million), causing Poul Plougmann to be replaced by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen as president . In the following year, almost one thousand employees were laid off, due to budget cuts . However, in October 2004, on reporting an even larger deficit, Kristiansen also stepped down as president, while placing DKK800 million of his private funds into the company . </P>

The popular toy manufacturing company funskool is a subsidiary of __