Answers.Body: <p>As far as I am aware there are 3 types of LEGO stores:</p>
  <ol>
  <li>Owned and operated by TLG.</li>
  <li>Licenced by TLG to 3rd party to operate under LEGO brand. In this group (most likely) your official region distributor may have a shop dedicated to LEGO brand only, however it doesn't offer benefits of official shops operated by TLG. Mainly the VIP points. Company owning such shop(s) could have other toy related shops operated under different (non LEGO) names.</li>
  <li>Shops operated without proper license and guidance as mentioned in <a href="https://lan.lego.com/news/overview/lego%C2%AE-certified-store-program-lcs-r39/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this post</a> on LAN from 2017. Cannot really tell much as I have not encountered this type.</li>
  </ol>
  <p>My understanding second type could also be called &quot;Official LEGO Store&quot; since it follows strict TLG requirements and recommendations. If you are not very much into this hobby you may not even recognize, that this kind isn't operated by TLG.</p>
  
Answers.ContentLicense: CC BY-SA 4.0
Answers.CreationDate: 2021-02-18T15:31:38.280Z
Answers.Text: It seems there is no public policy for this kind of stores, and there is no way for outsiders to know if a store is licensed or not :)
Answers.UserDisplayName: Tien Do
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Answers.CreationDate: 2021-02-09T15:51:34.760Z
Answers.LastActivityDate: 2021-02-18T15:38:43.840Z
Answers.LastEditDate: 2021-02-18T15:38:43.840Z
Answers.UserDisplayName: Alex
Answers.Body: <p>LEGO has some arrangements in Asia (I think currently it's only in Asia, but I don't think anyone has said it can't be done elsewhere), where third parties get a permission/license to call stores official.</p>
  
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Answers.CreationDate: 2021-02-10T15:26:09.577Z
Answers.Text: Israel if I recall correctly also has such a shop. It was mentioned some time ago in another question here.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Tonny
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Answers.CreationDate: 2021-02-10T20:20:15.877Z
Answers.Text: @Tonny arguably Israel is part of Asia, at least geographically.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Paŭlo Ebermann
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Answers.Text: @PaŭloEbermann I happen to know some people from Israel and they don't consider themselves Asian at all. First and foremost they are either Jewish (including the ones that aren't religious) or Palestinian. If you further ask explicitly about geographic region most of the people from a Jewish background will say Europe and the Palestinians will say Middle East or Arab. At least that is my experience.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Tonny
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Answers.Text: LEGO's Asia Pacific operations, headquartered in Singapore, operates under the LEGO Group. Not sure about other Asian countries but here in SG our orders with e-commerce platforms such as Lazada, Qoo10 and Shopee are fulfilled by LEGO Singapore themselves. We also have LEGO Certified Stores that operate as their own entities, licensed but not managed by LEGO Singapore - those are not related to the LEGO Official Store seen on the aforementioned e-commerce platforms.
Answers.UserDisplayName: LegoSonicBoy
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Answers.Text: @LegoSonicBoy Interesting, I don't think they are LEGO Certified Stores as I mentioned above that they only use the "official store" for an online shop, not their own brand stores both online/offline.
Answers.UserDisplayName: Tien Do
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Answers.CreationDate: 2021-02-19T06:02:01.130Z
Answers.Text: @Tien Do: Yeah, LEGO Official Stores online are managed by LEGO or their regional distributor.
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Answers.UserDisplayName: Henrik supports the community
Body: <p>Recently I visited a LEGO shop on an e-commerce platform, mainly for local market in Vietnam, what caught my eyes was the shop name: &quot;LEGO Official Store&quot;. Although there was no information about this shop, I found out later that this shop owned by Viet Tinh Anh (VTA) - a company claims themselves as an &quot;exclusive LEGO distributor&quot; in Vietnam.</p>
  <p>I have thought that only LEGO can use &quot;LEGO Official Store&quot; e.g. they <a href="https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/lego-group/contact/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">said here</a> &quot;We also sell directly through LEGO Shop and our LEGO Stores (the official LEGO shops).&quot; but not their wholesaler/distributor, is it correct?</p>
  <p>More information, VTA (aforementioned distributor) actually is also a retailer and has their own brand name for their toy stores (brick and mortar) as My Kingdom. They sell toys from many brands, not just LEGO, so I'm sure they cannot use this name for stores on the street. But can they use it for an online shop that only sells LEGO products?</p>
  
Tags: <lego-group><terminology><lego-store>
Title: Who can use "LEGO Official Store" for an online LEGO store?
UserDisplayName: Tien Do
ThreadText: # Who can use "LEGO Official Store" for an online LEGO store?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2021-02-09)
  
  Recently I visited a LEGO shop on an e-commerce platform, mainly for local market in Vietnam, what caught my eyes was the shop name: "LEGO Official Store". Although there was no information about this shop, I found out later that this shop owned by Viet Tinh Anh (VTA) - a company claims themselves as an "exclusive LEGO distributor" in Vietnam.
  
  I have thought that only LEGO can use "LEGO Official Store" e.g. they [said here](https://www.lego.com/en-us/aboutus/lego-group/contact/) "We also sell directly through LEGO Shop and our LEGO Stores (the official LEGO shops)." but not their wholesaler/distributor, is it correct?
  
  More information, VTA (aforementioned distributor) actually is also a retailer and has their own brand name for their toy stores (brick and mortar) as My Kingdom. They sell toys from many brands, not just LEGO, so I'm sure they cannot use this name for stores on the street. But can they use it for an online shop that only sells LEGO products?
  
  **Tags:** lego-group, terminology, lego-store
  
  
  ---
  
  ## 2 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_1 on 2021-02-09. Score: 6 | Accepted answer
  
  As far as I am aware there are 3 types of LEGO stores:
  
  1. Owned and operated by TLG.
  2. Licenced by TLG to 3rd party to operate under LEGO brand. In this group (most likely) your official region distributor may have a shop dedicated to LEGO brand only, however it doesn't offer benefits of official shops operated by TLG. Mainly the VIP points. Company owning such shop(s) could have other toy related shops operated under different (non LEGO) names.
  3. Shops operated without proper license and guidance as mentioned in [this post](https://lan.lego.com/news/overview/lego%C2%AE-certified-store-program-lcs-r39/) on LAN from 2017. Cannot really tell much as I have not encountered this type.
  
  My understanding second type could also be called "Official LEGO Store" since it follows strict TLG requirements and recommendations. If you are not very much into this hobby you may not even recognize, that this kind isn't operated by TLG.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: It seems there is no public policy for this kind of stores, and there is no way for outsiders to know if a store is licensed or not :)  
  
  ---
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2021-02-09. Score: 9
  
  LEGO has some arrangements in Asia (I think currently it's only in Asia, but I don't think anyone has said it can't be done elsewhere), where third parties get a permission/license to call stores official.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_3**: Israel if I recall correctly also has such a shop. It was mentioned some time ago in another question here.  
  > **username_4**: @username_3 arguably Israel is part of Asia, at least geographically.  
  > **username_3**: @username_4 I happen to know some people from Israel and they don't consider themselves Asian at all. First and foremost they are either Jewish (including the ones that aren't religious) or Palestinian. If you further ask explicitly about geographic region most of the people from a Jewish background will say Europe and the Palestinians will say Middle East or Arab. At least that is my experience.  
  > **username_5**: LEGO's Asia Pacific operations, headquartered in Singapore, operates under the LEGO Group. Not sure about other Asian countries but here in SG our orders with e-commerce platforms such as Lazada, Qoo10 and Shopee are fulfilled by LEGO Singapore themselves. We also have LEGO Certified Stores that operate as their own entities, licensed but not managed by LEGO Singapore - those are not related to the LEGO Official Store seen on the aforementioned e-commerce platforms.  
  > **username_0**: @username_5 Interesting, I don't think they are LEGO Certified Stores as I mentioned above that they only use the "official store" for an online shop, not their own brand stores both online/offline.  
  > **username_5**: @username_0: Yeah, LEGO Official Stores online are managed by LEGO or their regional distributor.  
  
  ---
  
  