One-Stop Locations for Health and Fun Toy Trends at Pharmacies

At many pharmacies in small towns and major cities, beyond the medical supplies and prescriptions, gift items are an important part of store sales. And toys are a big part of that gift merchandise mix. For this article, pharmacy staff members offered their takes on what sells best when it comes to playthings.

At Old Pasadena Pharmacy and South Park Pharmacy, alternatives to mega pharmaceutical chains, are both located in the greater Los Angeles area. At these homey stores, toys are pure fun for kids of all ages.

According to John Stephens , pharmacy manager, “What does best for us are stuffed animals and children’s books, things that make a nice simple present. We have an eclectic selection of these items in terms of age range, so everything moves very well for us.” A corporate gift entity purchases the toy merchandise for the stores. “It’s a gift buying service, and they buy for us whatever items they feel will do best for the stores. To some extent this year, it’s whatever they know will sell that they can find.” Toys are sold throughout the year, with an emphasis on what Stephens calls “classic toy items. Nothing specifically seasonal.”

In the small seaside town of Cambria, Calif., Cambria Drugs and Gifts places a great deal of emphasis on the store’s gift items According to Sales Clerk Lori Dragoun , speaking for manager Dena Crawford, the store offers what she described as “Old fashioned toys that you don’t see everywhere. We carry the classic paddle balls and little airplanes that you put together yourself. And what really sells well for us are squishy balls and stuffed animals of all kinds. Kids also like the new slime, which is really the current version of Silly Putty. It’s all simple, appealing, fun stuff.”

Dragoun said Crawford purchases all the toys that

“What does best for us are stuffed animals and children’s books, things that make a nice simple present. We have an eclectic selection of these items in terms of age range, so everything moves very well for us.” the store carries. “She buys online. I know she’d love to go to some of the toy shows, but she doesn’t have the time to do that.” The shop sells toy items throughout the year, but during the winter holidays, they sell even more. “We really do sell a lot, and so we do increase the number of classic toys we carry seasonally. We’re a tourist town, so a lot of people will come in to buy a quick gift, maybe something for relatives.”

Moving south to another small town, Los Osos, Pharmacist Jason Tewell carries a great deal of children’s toys at his Los Osos Rexall Pharmacy. “We have a very wide selection of toys, although they are primarily aimed at kids from age 0 to 5 or 6. They are the main audience we are buying for. We also carry things for older kids, but the majority of our sales lies with

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