Games, Playthings and Plush

From the Classics (From page 85)

Thames and Kozmos escape room games [sold well].” In puzzles, Kozhevnikova said, “We carry name brands like Ravensburger, White Mountain, Cobble Hill. We have ones starting at 25 pieces and up to 2,000 pieces. We have a puzzle line by University Games. They’re mystery puzzles with eight titles. You read the little

10-page story, then put the puzzle together—you have no idea what the picture looks like [until it’s finished]. They’re very popular.” She adds, “Games and puzzles are selling so well because kids are spending a lot of time with electronics, and parents want to get them away from them. And a lot of older people do puzzles to stay occupied. When I have free time, I do them

Top Games and Puzzles for Kids and Adults

Games and puzzles have the same timeless appeal of other toys. In the last few years, families spent more time together than perhaps ever before. Game Nights became a common fixture in many households at the height of the COVID pandemic as children and adults looked for different activities to do together.

Emily Drappi’s top game suggestions for kids and adults to play together are Kids Against Maturity, Mind the Gap, and classics like Scrabble, Battleship, and Chess. “One that I like and recommend for different ages is Tenzi. And Buildzi, where each person gets a little set of blocks in the same shape. You race to build the tower the fastest,” explained the owner/buyer for Island Treasure Toys, which has a flagship store in Freeport, Maine.

Olga Kozhevnikova, who owns World of Toys in Berlin, Md., recommended “family puzzles”, which consist of 350 pieces featuring themes like The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and different states. Also, “mystery puzzles. I’ve done one of them with my kids. It’s a good puzzle to bring the family together. Ravensburger has good quality Disney puzzles with good quality pic- tures.”

Wendy Morgan, CFO of two Coast Hardware stores in Willits and Fort Bragg, Calif., said for generational games, “It goes back to dominoes, Yahtzee, and some of the newer kids’ games like Apples to Apples and Jenga. They’re entertaining for kids and adults. Then you have your [games like] Connect Four, Sorry!, Clue, and the themed Life games, like Super Mario. Also Uno, cards, games that have been around for quite some time. I mean, who doesn’t like Uno? Maybe they’re still popular because the adults relate to the games. They remem- ber playing them as kids.”

Isabel Danielak, manager/ buyer at Silverton Pharmacy and Gift Shop in Toms River, N.J., also recommended the tried-and-true classics like Monopoly, Clue, and checkers, as well as Sorry!

Toy Manager at Big Smile Toys at The Hardware Center in Paoli, Pa., Bebe Feimster said, “Many of the classic games are family friendly. Candy Land and Chutes and Ladders are great for younger kids, and Clue, The Game of Life and Scrabble are good for families with older children. Puzzle companies also manufacture Family Puzzles, which have different size pieces so the whole family can enjoy putting them together. Three hundred-to-500-piece puzzles seem to be popular for families to do together.” ‘Family time’ has taken on new importance as a result of the pandemic, and games and puzzles have become favorite family pastimes. “When people were stuck at home, they needed things to do, especially as a family. Group activities such as playing games and assembling puzzles was (and is) an inexpensive and entertaining pastime. Many of our customers have told us that they never did puzzles prior to the pandemic, but now they love it!” ❖ myself. My daughter will do the puzzle with me, but on her own, she wouldn’t. They’re a way to bring families together. Last year was our best year ever. We have a great selection. The games and puzzles we carry—you wouldn’t be able to find them in the stores around us. Customers take advice from us before making their purchase.”

At Coast Hardware, Morgan said she’s found that puzzle sales are seasonal. “For instance, around the holidays, Christmas scenes sell. In the spring, it’s pastels—lighter colors, brighter colors. Your tried-and-true sellers will be anything with animals. We also sell complicated puzzles, when everything is the same color, or there are just a few colors. I’ve sold puzzles for a decade or so—they turn pretty consistently. The last few years, the sales were out of control, but people were at home, and there’s only so much TV you can watch or Internet you can look at.” Morgan is in a rural area of northern California, near the Oregon border, and said she has a large clientele of traveling nurses who work for the various hospitals and clinics in the area. “I have a good clientele there, because they’ll come out and stay for a month or so, and it’s something to do when they’re off,” she explains. Morgan carries a variety of indoor and outdoor games, noting they are also seasonal— “When it’s raining or the weather is bad, people will buy more Jenga and the indoor games. We also sell outside stuff—cornhole, balls, horseshoes. It’s not unusual for game sales to be seasonal.”

Rather than stock a few shelves’ or an aisle’s worth of toys, Big Smile Toys at The Hardware Center in Paoli, Pa., is an entire department which has been a fixture in the community for many years. Games and puzzles remain strong sellers in the toy category. Toy Manager Bebe Feimster said, “Our number one line in puzzles is Ravensburger; best sellers are 500- and 1,000-piece puzzles. They sell well because puzzlers love the quality and images from Ravensburger, and the puzzles are made in Germany.” In games, Feimster said, “We sell a great deal of classic games such as Candy Land, Sorry and Rummikub, just to name a few. The majority of our clientele are grandparents and young families who remember and love those classic games!”

Retailers rely largely on their sales reps and attending annual trade shows (both in-person and virtually) to keep up with trends in the game and puzzle categories. Kozhevnikova said she works with over 100 different vendors; she and Drappi are also members of the Good Toy Group, a buying collecContinued on page 88