Ty

Ty is an American multinational corporation headquartered in Oak Brook, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. It was founded by Ty Warner in 1986. It designs, develops and sells products exclusively to specialty markets worldwide.

This article is about the Illinois toy company. For the now defunct New York based toy company, see Tyco Toys. For other uses, see Ty (disambiguation).
Ty
Founded1986 (1986)
FounderTy Warner
Headquarters
Oak Brook, Illinois
,
U.S.
Number of locations
worldwide
ProductsBeanie Babies, Beanie Boos, Frizzys, Disney, My Little Pony, Hello Kitty, TMNT, SpongeBob SquarePants, MLB, NBA, NHL, NFL, Rush Zone, Paw Patrol, Despicable Me, Beanie ballz
OwnerTy Warner
Websitety.com

Internet

First business-to-consumer Website

Ty was the first business to produce a business to consumer Website designed to engage their market. This is a major contributing factor to the early and rapidly growing popularity of Beanie Babies. By the time the first iteration of the Ty Web site was published in late 1995, only 14% of Americans were using the Internet.[1] In tandem with the launch of the Ty Website, all Beanie Baby hangtags had the Ty Website URL and a call to action printed underneath the poems and birthdays that commanded audiences to visit the company Web site with text that read: Visit our web page!!! As a result, consumers were visiting the Ty Web site by the thousands to gain information about Beanie Babies, which was completely unprecedented at the time. Ty was the first business to leverage their Web site to connect and engage with consumers of their products. This effort evolved into the world's first Internet sensation.[2]

Fundraising

Ty has been involved in a large amount of fundraising. Some has been through the sale of certain Beanie Babies, with the proceeds have been donated to various causes. It has also been through other means, such as voting for a fee.[3]

One such fundraising Beanie Baby was Ariel, made to raise funds for the Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation. Its sales raised a total of $3.4 million for the foundation.[4] Others include Aware and Awareness, sold to raise funds for breast cancer research and awareness; and Barbaro, created in memory of Barbaro the Horse, to raise funds for the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine, which tried to save the horse.

Ty has also raised money for the 2004 PGA Tour with a beanie called ChariTee; one, signed by Jack Nicklaus was auctioned for $455.[5]

Ty was the shirt sponsor of Portsmouth FC from 2002 to 2005, in which the club was promoted to the Premier League.

A beanie baby named "Cito" was given out to school children in Montecito, California to welcome them back to school after the area was affected by the 2018 Southern California mudflows.[6]

References
  1. Pew Research Center (February 27, 2014). "How the Internet Has Woven Itself Into American Life". Retrieved June 16, 2018.
  2. Bissonnette, Zac (March 2015). "The $12-per-hour Sociology Major Who Made Ty Warner a Billionaire". The Great Beanie Baby Bubble: Mass Delusion and the Dark Side of Cute. Penguin Books. pp. 107–121. ISBN 978-1591846024.
  3. Ty Puts Beanie Babies' Fate Into the Hands of Consumers. New York Times
  4. Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation Achievements and Milestones
  5. Ty Beanie Baby Beanies News Ty
  6. Palminteri, John (23 February 2018). "Ty Warner provides mud zone kids with comforting 'Cito' beanie baby dolls". KEYT. Retrieved 3 July 2018.


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