Talking Shop
Just goes to show At the recent Toymaster Show, Sam Giltrow caught up with a selection of indie retailers to find out how business is faring as we reach the halfway point of the year, and what they had enjoyed about being back in Harrogate.
Chris Blatcher -
I
Toymaster chairman and JAC Stores, Isle of Man
t’s great to be back at the show and to see all the other members enjoying it too. It is obvious that the Toymaster team has worked very hard and there is a real upbeat feel. Being able to see and handle all the product makes such a difference to everyone and is a vital component of the show. We have three stores on the Isle of Man – two in Douglas and one in Ramsey – and my son, Carl, has taken on most of the toy buying now. Business has been good, and we diversified at the start of Covid when Carl set up a website; we have now completed about 19,000 deliveries on the island. The website has become an important part of the business and a vital shop window – we’ve noticed that if we list something online, we see a spike in sales in-store too. We are always looking at new ways to develop the business, but I don’t think we would have got the website up and running as quickly were it not for the pandemic. However, we are now seeing a noticeable return to instore, in-person shopping With all the cost of living increases, I expect the rest of this year to be challenging in lots of different ways. We are all being faced with increased costs and have seen our online competition becoming increasingly fierce, but we are coping, and sales continue to be up again this year. We are still going in the right direction and it’s all very positive. I think the toy market has shown great resilience and we’re lucky that the last thing people want is to neglect their children. However, we do have to be considered about the items we are stocking and ensure they are the right products at the right price, because everyone is now looking for value above everything. One of the advantages of being with Toymaster is that it gives us the opportunity to do just that. We are still seeing strong sales from Squishmallows and the plush category in general, with Ty also performing well. Plush has become a particularly
strong category since the pandemic and we have done well with licensed plush too, including Sing 2 and Super Mario from Whitehouse Leisure (Posh Paws). Another key sales driver is the Lego exclusives from Toymaster, particularly things like the Lego Speed Champions Mercedes set. That is another great benefit of being a Toymaster member. Slime Party is working well for us too, which is an exclusive with Toymaster. We are looking forward to all the big movie releases this summer; our orders are in for Jurassic World Dominion, Lightyear and Minions 2 products, and we will also have support from Toymaster with window kits which helps us get the product across to the consumer. We have been a Toymaster member for 27 years and it has played a big part our success - without Toymaster, we wouldn’t be where we are today. The Toymaster team focused on inviting independent retailers along to the show to see first-hand the opportunities membership can open up for them, and it’s fantastic to see more new members joining. It’s important to share ideas and information and the online forum allows us to do this. Everyone is here to help, and we are also here to listen. The TIMS 2 system saves members’ time by doing the invoice management, leaving them free to do what they want to do – the buying and selling of toys. I think the rise in costs is the biggest concern for members, with margin being pressured at both ends, but it’s encouraging to hear that the majority of toy shops are holding up and doing reasonably well. Being able to adapt your businesses is the advantage of being small and nimble. Our main focus at the Toymaster show has been stock for the second half of the year and, along with having meetings with regular suppliers such as Jazwares and Lego, we have been looking at some new
Toy World 37
suppliers too. We are always looking for something different, and one new, smaller supplier that has caught our eye is Mood Bears, which we first saw on the Toymaster vlog. It’s such a lovely plush range and should do well.
