Talking Retail - retailers share their best sellers

RETAIL OPINION Talking retail

If you would like to take part in Talking Retail, we’d love to hear from you. Please email news@toysnplaythings.media

TnP loves to hear your views. This month we ask retailers about their plans for in-store events and their predictions for the Next Big Thing

Jade Oliver-Deacon Owner, The Toy Shop Okehampton, Devon

With Covid restrictions relaxed, are you planning any in-store events? Not yet. In my opinion, it's still too early to consider doing those sorts of things. Hopefully, Covid case numbers will continue to fall and we can start to look at in-store demos in the summer.

Jennie Hogg

Owner, Cachao Toys Muswell Hill , London

With Covid restrictions relaxed, are you planning any in-store events?

If I’m completely honest, I’m struggling to think too far ahead! Business has been pretty good recently. I have days that are terrible and days that are great - but overall turnover is good, which puts a lot more pressure on me. I like to be physically in the shop as much as possible to get a feel for what’s going on. But I’m also trying to stay on top of paperwork, orders and deleting annoying emails - my time gets used up very quickly.

So, the short answer is: yes, I'd love to do some in-store events, but I haven't gone any further with planning any.

What do you think is the next big thing for 2022?

I'm not too bothered about the next big thing. Usually, the crazes that go around are made of unsustainable materials, which inevitably end up in landfill. I'm done with it. I like to stick with good old tried-and-tested classics, or variations of them: toys that have long-lasting play value and can be passed on rather than chucked out.

I'm always open to something new but I’m very conscious of the effect it’s having on the planet and I’m trying to do what I can to minimise the impact. I’m not perfect and don’t claim to be totally sustainable. But I do what I can.

I get excited when I find a small business that has made a go of creating a new product that you don't see everywhere. So often I hear from my customers that the child they are buying for 'has everything'. So, I need to find different products that they don't have. Of course, I have to have staple products too, but it's the little guys that get me passionate about selling again.

At Toy Fair I found a really cute company called Button and Squirt. Owner Ria Painter-Coates has a really clever collection of Amazing Animals flash cards and colouring books - beautifully illustrated and educational. I also found amazing (handmade in Guatemala) flying discs from Buena Onda Games. And at Top Drawer I saw some lovely crafty products (not necessarily for kids), which I’m really excited to get in. I like to think outside the box!

“I'm always open to something new but I’m very conscious of the effect it’s having on the planet and I’m trying to do what I can to minimise the impact”

What do you think is the next big thing for 2022? Dinosaurs are ‘in’. They are always popular, but everyone I spoke to at Toy Fair mentioned the new Jurassic Park film that is due out later this year.

“Dinosaurs are ‘in’... everyone I spoke to at Toy Fair mentioned the new Jurassic Park film that is due out later this year”

Julia Wingate

Owner, The Trading Post Kingsbridge, Devon With Covid restrictions relaxed, are you planning any in-store events? We have reintroduced our Saturday offers, where each week we offer a free goodie bag linked with a brand or supplier. This has been well received by our local customers, who are venturing back instore more regularly. What do you think is the next big thing for 2022? All the toys with true 'green' credentials. We particularly like the Green Toys range from Bigjigs Toys and Adoptables from Keel Toys.

Debbie Maloney

Senior Manager, Austins Department Store Newton Abbot, Devon

With Covid restrictions relaxed, are you planning any in-store events?

Not at present due to staffing levels, but we hope to plan for second-half trading. But we will participate in the Sylvanian Families loyalty scheme and the Schleich 3-for-2 offer.

Senior Buyer, Hobbycraft Group 100-plus stores across the UK

With Covid restrictions relaxed, are you planning any in-store events?

Our workshops are back! They’re even better than before. July 2021 saw the expansion of the Hobbycraft workshop programme to deliver fun and creative classes both in-store and online, powered by events booking platform ClassBento.

Customers can choose a workshop to master a new craft or refine a longtime favourite, and most workshops come with a complete craft kit providing everything needed to craft along. It’s all about help and advice, and Hobbycraft’s expert craft colleagues will share all the tools and techniques for customers to continue what they have learned for other projects at home.

Attendees can choose online and in-store options to suit their needs, and in-store workshop capacity will remain reduced to ensure customers can socially distance while crafting. Specifically for half term we held kids’ craft workshops to colour-in canvas, moulding and more, plus our usual colour-in ceramics workshops for our charity Together for Short Lives.

The Hobbycraft workshop platform is dedicated to getting all of Britain making and creating, and continues to expand.

“Our regular events are our speciality and we can’t wait to release our full schedule for 2022”

Martin Blyth

Director, Tickly Tapir Evesham, Worcestershire

With Covid restrictions relaxed, are you planning any in-store events?

Our regular events are our speciality and we can’t wait to release our full schedule for 2022. We had a fun, Schleich-inspired Easter Egg hunt in store to celebrate the release of Schleich’s new Limited Edition Easter Rabbit figures. We’re also working closely with CollectA on ideas for an Animal Figurine Fair in the summer. Further to our exciting events with Playmobil and Tonies last year, we are also working with them closely to finalise our plans for 2022 and ensure they are even bigger and better than last year. What do you think is the next big thing for 2022?

I think that the new Sophia’s Beauties range from Schleich is going to be an incredibly strong performer in 2022. It’s the first time that Schleich has included hair on its horse figures and the range of grooming tools available to go alongside these horses is very impressive. The new range is clearly differentiated from the existing Horse Club franchise and will certainly bring a whole new segment of the market into the magical world of Schleich.

Amanda Alexander

Owner, Giddy Goat Toys Didsbury, Manchester

With Covid restrictions relaxed, are you planning any in-store events? We’ve recently started doing a storytime session on a Friday morning, which is held by Jo, who also does my social media. She used to run a story class franchise called Adventure Babies so she’s brilliant at it. I’m thinking we should also put the wooden train set back out on the play table, but we’ve got so used to it being in the area where deliveries are unpacked that I’m actually half reluctant! What do you think is the next big thing for 2022? At this point in the year I honestly couldn’t say. Pushpoppers were obviously the big thing last year, so I’m waiting to see and hear from local children and parents to find out what they want…

Vicky Brown

Owner, Just Williams, Two stores in Dulwich, London, and Beckenham, Kent

With Covid restrictions relaxed, are you planning any in-store events?

With restrictions lifting, we will get our demo table out so we can demo games. And we were excited to be able to run Easter Egg hunts in our stores once again this year. We have a few other events planned but want to see how our customers react before we organise too much. What do you think is the next big thing for 2022?

This is a tough one as there are so many new great products out there but I think the Unique Eyes dolls from Flair and the Timio from Toynamics will be big this year.

“We were excited to be able to run Easter Egg hunts in our stores once again”