Retail Interview - with Donard McGreevy managing director of McGreevy’s Toys Direct

A family affair

TnP chats to Donard McGreevy, managing director of finalist McGreevy’s Toys Direct in Westport, County Mayo, Ireland

How did you feel when you heard the news that you are a finalist?

We were absolutely over the moon. It’s been a hard couple of years for independent retailers and we have had to make so many difficult decisions and changes to our business. It can be hard to know if you’re doing the right thing sometimes, so to be recognised by the BTHA means so much to us and really validates all the work we’ve put in.

We found out that we were a finalist in the same week that we were featured in a documentary on Irish national television about independent toy shops, so that was a very nice few days.

Tell us a bit about your business.

Our shop was opened by my greatgrandparents in 1904. It was originally a corner shop selling groceries, and over time toys were added into the mix. It was really in the 1950s, when my father Don took over the shop, that toys became such a big part of our business. You won’t meet a harder working man than him, and over the years he has built the shop into what it is today.

We are lucky to live in a beautiful tourist town and our shop is a ‘mustdo’ for children (and adults!) from all over the country who are in the area on holiday. I’ve worked full time in the business for over 10 years now and we have grown and expanded again in that time. My wife Laura came to work with us full-time two years ago [as ecommerce/ social media manager] when we launched our website, www. toysdirect.ie.

How would you describe your toys and games range?

We are a traditional toy shop - you will find most items here except for electronics. We have a broad and varied range, both in terms of products and price. We really try to look at our range as a whole and ensure we have something for every interest. We only stock brands that we consider the highest quality, which we would be happy to recommend to our own family and friends. We cater for every age from birth-plus, and every budget from pocket money to high-end, occasion purchases.

What are your key categories?

We are lucky to have a loyal customer base both in-store and online for several of our product categories. Farm toys are our biggest seller; I suppose given our location, that’s no surprise. Bruder, Britains, Siku and Kids Globe are consistently among our top brands. LEGO isn’t far behind, and we have significantly increased our range over the past couple of years. Wooden toys is another key category for us, and we’ve seen considerable growth in outdoor toys too.

We want every single customer to come away feeling delighted with their experience - and that is something we strive towards 24/7

What sets you apart?

Along with must-have lines, we try to stock lines that the big retailers don’t. Some product ranges are so large that you simply can’t stock everything, so we try to pick and choose best sellers along with more unusual or harder to find pieces.

But I think the main thing that sets us apart is our dedication to customer service, and I think that comes down to us being family-run. If you shop with us, you are dealing with me, my dad, or my wife. One of us is likely to have packed your order, answered your email, offered advice, or just had a chat with you at the counter. We want every customer to come away feeling delighted with their experience - and that is something we strive towards 24/7.

How has the pandemic affected your business?

The pandemic hit us hard like everyone else - I’ve lost track of how many months we’ve had to close due to government restrictions. We launched our website in April 2020. We had been planning it anyway, but that gave us a push to get it up and running asap - and it was our saving grace for that first year. The emphasis on supporting small businesses also helped us immensely and we will be forever grateful to those who supported us online in the beginning. The website has taken off in a way we couldn’t have imagined, and has kept growing.

Last year was slightly better in-store as people were allowed to travel around the country again and we had a good summer and Christmas season. Stock has probably been our main issue over the past 12 months. But we did our best, and hopefully things will improve.

What’s selling well?

Anything to do with Harry Potter has been flying out since the reunion programme [Harry Potter 20th Anniversary] aired on television. The new-release LEGO will be on the shelf any day now and is guaranteed to sell quickly. We can’t keep stock of Care Bears and Mood Bears at the moment, and Pokémon continues to be consistently strong.

What’s your biggest challenge now?

Definitely the scaling up of our business. We really have seen such growth over the past couple of years that we need to stop and take stock and see where we want to go from here. So, we need to plan ahead in ways we haven’t had to before. The website is doing well, and we will likely need to look at a dedicated space to run that from, and all that goes with that. So, lots of challenges for the year ahead - but we can’t wait to see where we can go from here.