A New York-based toy store has slashed its prices in a desperate bid to stay afloat after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
Camp Toy Store sent an email to customers 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 a number of high-profile celebrities including Drew Barrymore and Neil Patrick Harris, said much of its cash was tied up at SVB, which became the largest failed bank in the US since the financial crisis of 2008.
On Friday, he urged customers to make purchases that he said would be processed through rival bank Chase.
‘Unfortunately, we had most of our company’s cash assets in a bank that failed. I’m sure you’ve heard the news,” co-founder Ben Kaufman said in an email.
New York toy store Camp, pictured, has cut its prices by 40 percent to deal with fallout from its Silicon Valley Bank.
An ad on the store’s Instagram account urges customers to use the tongue-in-cheek discount code ‘bankrun’
Co-founder Ben Kaufman also sent an email to customers urging them to take advantage of the sale.
“All sales from this point forward will be deposited with Chase and will allow us to generate the cash needed to continue operations so we can continue to provide unforgettable family memories.”
Customers were told they could take advantage of the discount or pay full price to give the business an extra boost.
Kaufman, who was previously the director of marketing at Buzzfeed, added that he would be “appreciative” if they chose the latter option.
He signed the post: ‘Take away cheap toys, birthday gifts, etc., all while helping CAMP. Does everyone win?
The discount proved so popular that the website temporarily crashed on Friday night due to high demand.
“Our site has crashed from all the support, thank you all,” read a post on her Instagram page.
Camp is a venture capital-backed company and opened its first store in 2018. It is an experiential toy store that hosts a variety of children’s birthday parties, scavenger hunts, and other events.
He has also collaborated with a variety of celebrities at events including LeBron James, Drew Barrymore, and Neil Patrick Harris.
In 2020, Barrymore held a blindfold makeup challenge for an event hosted by the toy store and Walmart.
Her popularity skyrocketed during the pandemic as she hosted more than 50,000 virtual birthday parties and sold more than 500,000 activity books.
Concerned customers questioned whether the panic sale spelled the death knell for the beloved toy store, but employees were quick to assure them that they will “ride the wave” of SVB’s collapse.
In response to a comment, the firm said: ‘Camp hopes to be available for the long term.
“We are confident that we will ride this wave and are hopeful that next week we will be back to running at normal speed.”
Police attended the bank’s California headquarters on Friday after irate tech entrepreneurs showed up at its door.
SVP CEO Greg Becker successfully lobbied congress in 2015 to lessen scrutiny of his business
It comes after panic rocked the financial sector on Friday following 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 control of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
The crisis broke out after he disclosed a $1.8 billion loss on his bold holdings this week.
CEO Greg Becker had urged investors in a conference call on Thursday to “stay calm” and not “panic.”
But it caused nervous customers to withdraw large balances to avoid losses.
Deposits of up to $250,000 are protected by federal law, but anyone with larger sums tied up now faces losing their money.
Dozens of customers were filmed yesterday lining up in front of a branch to withdraw the cash they had before the fight.
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 many small start-ups and online sellers left in limbo by 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 send an email to its sellers to let them know their payments were being frozen because the company relied on the bank for some of its accounts.
Sellers said the freeze meant they couldn’t pay their mortgages and left him worried about how to feed their families.
Becker has also come under fire after it emerged that he successfully lobbied Congress in 2015 to lessen scrutiny of companies 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 that Becker had sold $3.57 million worth of shares in a pre-planned automatic liquidation two weeks before the bank’s collapse, with the CFO dumping $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 before trading on Friday before the FDIC seized the bank’s assets. It closed at $15.
Federal records obtained by The Lever showed Becker had spent more than half a million dollars on federal lobbying between 2015 and 2018.
The money was well spent: SVB got the light regulation it wanted.
Becker told Congress about ‘SVB’s deep understanding of the markets it serves, our strong risk management practices.