The Retail Barometer

A regular column in which retailers and more tell us about the positive – and negative – things happening in stores around the country. All comments are provided anonymously, but verified and checked by us at TnP…

To have your contributions potentially included, email tim@lemapublishing.co.uk with what’s doing well and what’s doing not so well in stores, what’s making you happy, confident and optimistic for the future – and what’s giving you cause for concern…

Barbie marketing – literally everyone in the country is talking about the movie, with Warner and Mattel’s marketing appearing almost everywhere you look. It’s earning across-the-board comments… Construction toys – selling well throughout the summer…

Pocket money toys – as the cost-of-living crisis begins to bite, items such as Hot Wheels, Pokémon cards, Sylvanian families mini-sets and more are all selling through nicely. Basically, it’s the lines for under £10 but that are still nice gifts that are selling well. Pocket money and lines under a tenner are growing sectors.

Business – starting to pick up again after a relatively quiet spring, with summer looking a lot better than the previous season. Footfall is, according to some, still a worry…

Supply issues – “I can’t believe what a worry this was for us and it isn’t now, a lot of it has been sorted,” one major retailer told us. Another added: “We have found that stock levels and speed of delivery are much better this year and we have even seen a few price reductions, which is great.”

Spiralling costs – still a worry and still making many nervous. One buyer said: “Plan ahead is the only way, understand your fixed costs, heat and power especially so that there are no surprises and then at least you can deal with any rising costs.”

Another added: “Costs are a real worry with footfall being down. Utilities and staff costs are spiralling and we are saving where we can: fewer lights and fewer staff. ‘‘

Big ticket items – some are languishing on the shelves, although, as one retailer noted: ‘‘Having said that, I sold a £90 wooden play kitchen this morning, so you have to have the big items in stock for the random requests.”

Support – more is needed from suppliers to help out retail, especially he independents. As one told us: “The support from a lot of companies is still very important to us and we do receive it from a few (Hasbro, Epoch, LEGO, and more), but there is also a lack of support from others who just have online B2B sites and this is a concern for the future.”