Indie Opinion - Diary of a Toy Shop by Hazel McCarthy, owner of Toy Corner in Galway

Toy Corner’s 2020 Christmas windows

Diary of a toy shop

Hazel McCarthy, owner of Toy Corner in Galway, reflects on the past 12 months of trading and looks forward to a very special Christmas gift

Well, here we are, peak season! Where did 2021 go? This is the time that will tell us whether all the hard work throughout the year paid off. I’m feeling quite positive; the ‘shop local’ sentiment has continued, and the investments and improvements I’ve made across the business to tailor them even more closely to our consumers’ desires seem to be recognised and appreciated.

Despite being closed for almost half the year, I’ve continued the 2020 trend of working twice as hard - as I’m sure is the case for most independents. Almost weekly, goalposts have been changing with pricing, delivery schedules, carriage levels, and import charges across the majority of suppliers. So I feel more mentally exhausted, with less of a sense of where I am financially, than I did last year when the world was even more up in the air. So much of my time is spent chasing deliveries and figuring out how to get orders released, that I’m so glad to finally have some staff. There’s no way I would have time to do all of that, plus covering the counter - which I’m delighted to say has been nice and busy in October and November.

Even non-stock related projects, such as getting my bilingual department signage installed, which was scheduled for a few months ago, has only just been completed. And that was due to the signage company’s own stock issues! It shows how complex supply chains are across all different kinds of industries.

I feel indies always have the advantage of having a lovely busy feeling right up to closing on Christmas Eve, because we

I feel indies always have the “ advantage of having a lovely busy feeling right up to closing on Christmas Eve, because we also specialise in the small stuff “

also specialise in the small stuff - the lastminute things that complete a present or a stocking such as add-ons like giftwrap, Sellotape and labels. I’ve made sure to stock up and have had them all on display since the start of November, so my customers take note where to come when they need those items.

At the time of writing, I’m trying to decide my theme for my Christmas window. I like to put it in for the whole of December, and to pick products that I have a lot of stock of (mostly to minimise the need to get in and out of the window for the ‘last one’ of any toy!).

Last year my husband made a little scale model of my corner of the village to go around the base of the tree, accompanied by a model of our Toy Corner train logo to go around the front. It was really magical, so I think I’ll have to use that again. I do love getting creative with the windows, and with toys we are blessed, because children don’t generally go in for the minimalist aesthetic! I’d love to see everyone else’s Christmas windows this year; share them using #toyshopwindow on Instagram and I’ll keep an eye out!

On the subject of this issue’s feature on Inspirational and Aspirational Play (one of my favourite sections, of course, for a shop with the tagline ‘toys powered by imagination’!) one of the decisions I’ve battled with over the past month is deciding whether to do my Magic of Christmas Boxes again this year. I loved doing them last year and there was a great uptake, but they were extremely time-consuming. I designed the Boxes as gifts to give before Christmas Day to keep children entertained and excitement at bay on Christmas Eve, and to create an opportunity for memory-making as a family. However, I still haven’t decided if I have the capacity to offer those again, given everything else that needs to be done at the moment. Again, another potential knock-on effect of our supply chain issues!

Online trading has been small but steady. The peak for this will always be earlier than the in-store peak, so it’s nice to try to ride both waves - but the marketing strategy for both is so different that it’s hard to be sure you’re being effective in either by trying to do both. Sometimes, if orders are slow, I find it hard to prioritise updating the website with new products when we have so much else to do. But all it takes is hearing a customer in-store saying they use the site to browse, to refresh my incentive to stay on top of it as it’s truly a digital shop window.

With only a few weeks left to go until my baby arrives, I’m looking forward to putting my feet up. I remember the feeling so clearly when I got to closing time on Christmas Eve last year - the sense that I’d made it! The anticipation of that mood is what’s getting me through the rest of this month, and I’m sure it will be even greater this year knowing that January will be brightened by our new arrival.

Knowing that I now have some staff to share the burden in the busiest month of the year is also lightening the load. Considering I have been so used to doing everything myself, this pregnancy has been a fantastic learning curve for letting go of the reins - fast! Here’s wishing everyone a profitable Christmas, and a bit more normality in 2022.