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 - Toymaster chairman and JAC Stores, Isle of Man

It’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 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.

Mandy Harrop - Gosling Toymaster, Marple, Cheshire

We have been Toymaster members for as long as I can remember. My father founded the shop and when he retired my sister, Julie, and I took over.

Being a Toymaster member gives us so much including this amazing show, where we get to meet suppliers face to face and see other members. It’s so good to be back after two years, as we have really missed it. We love the relaxed environment; it’s just so nice to be able to chat to other members and find out what they are doing and if we share the same problems. It’s easy to think your business is the only one affected by various challenges but that’s often not the case. We all share tips and information on how to deal with problems – what’s great is that nobody is trying to outdo anyone else and we just all want to help each other.

It's also been wonderful to see all the product in the flesh again; lately, a lot of business has been done on a laptop or from a catalogue. As well as seeing our regular accounts, we like to look for new suppliers and this year it is more important than ever to have something new. Customers are becoming more hands on when they come into the shop now. They want to see the product and ensure they are getting value for money; kids especially love to see what they are buying, so it’s vital to get the product mix right.

We are still selling a lot of Squishmallows, and Mattel’s Polly Pocket range is performing well at the moment. We have a good collection of infant toys and the Tomy and VTech ranges are particularly popular. We are noticing that parents are looking out for more eco-friendly toys and our wooden section has seen something of a resurgence. As well as being attractive in terms of sustainability, many ranges have had a refresh so that they’re more colourful and appealing, and the packaging is a lot nicer too. We have a Hape stand full of product which is really attractive - and not too expensive. Many customers are also choosing wood because it’s longer lasting too.

We have seen an increase in sales of nostalgic toys, games such as Snakes & Ladders which parents like as they keep kids away from their devices. We’re seeing strong sales from evergreen, traditional ranges like Playmobil and Lego, plus jigsaw puzzles are still selling well.

It was great to see Mattel at the show, as we don’t see a lot of them. We were able to go through all the stock planning for the months ahead right up to Christmas. Dinosaurs remain popular and will be even more so with the new Jurassic World Dominion film out this summer, so we have placed orders for the Mattel range which I’m sure will do well. With Disney and Pixar’s Lightyear film being released at about the same time, it will be interesting to see how those toys do. Disney’s Encanto is also still popular - it’s great to see the return of big movie releases as they are such a huge driver for sales.

We weren’t expecting as many people to stay at home this summer with the lifting of travel restrictions, but now there’s the cost of living crisis to contend with, so we will have to wait and see what the next few months bring. With the recent nice weather, we have already started selling paddling pools, but it’s interesting that people are buying smaller ones, perhaps because they are worried about the cost on the water meter, as well as the environment. It’s all very weather dependent, but let’s hope for a good summer.

Kate Hateley - group toy buyer, British Garden Centres

It’s great to come to my first Toymaster show. I’ve been in my role for two and a half years, so I’ve not been able to come before because of the pandemic, and I’ve really enjoyed being able to chat to other members as well as the suppliers. It certainly feels like there is a lot of positivity around, which is really lovely.

I think one of the main benefits of being a Toymaster member is the security it brings of being part of a group. As they say in one of their straplines, it’s like one big family, and it enables you to connect with like-minded retailers. There are many benefits; it’s not just that they can control the invoicing and the payment terms, it’s also about having access to useful information with regards to suppliers and being able to connect with other members. The Toymaster team is fantastic, and you know there’s always someone to help, whether you have a problem with a supplier or you just need advice.

It works slightly differently for us as we are a garden centre chain, and toys are sold through departments within bigger shops. We have 61 garden centres in the British Garden Centres group and our toy offering ranges from full blown toy departments to some outlets that simply have a jigsaw offering.

The bigger toy departments carry major brands such as Mattel, Lego and Playmobil but there are others who specialise more in areas like arts & crafts and pre-school products. Since I took up my role, I’ve seen many of the centres expanding their toy departments. With the lockdowns and more people being at home, customers have been seeking more arts & crafts and products to keep kids busy, and to help with children’s home learning, and jigsaws have also become extremely popular with all ages. Many of these trends have continued as people appreciate being at home more, and we still see impressive sales from our jigsaw range which includes the likes of Gibsons, Ravensburger, Jumbo and Falcon.

Mattel is our biggest supplier and a lot of its brands perform well for us such as Barbie, Fisher-Price, Thomas & Friends and Hot Wheels – the latter is a massive seller for us as a pick up line. We do, however, deal with a lot of smaller suppliers. One of these is Smart Games which we are trialling in some of our centres. In a garden centre, we have to be careful that smaller ranges don’t get lost, so we work with the supplier on promotion. Sometimes it’s about finding the right demographic for the range but because we have so many centres, we do have the flexibility to try things out.

I’ve seen some fantastic new products at the show and I’ve been looking at new ranges that we can start stocking from August, ready for the run up to Christmas.

Everyone is very excited about the new Jurassic World Dominion film and there are a lot of dinosaur ranges around - which is great for us as anything related to dinosaurs is always a huge seller at our garden centres. I have also spoken to Casdon Toys about their range, which is something we have not stocked before. I think things like the Henry the Hoover and Dyson ranges will go down very well with our customers for Christmas. Children are familiar with those brands nowadays, so they want the replicas. I also loved the Post Office and Pick & Mix Sweet Shop.

At this time of year, I like to give our whole range a bit of a shake up and a review. It’s when I start to get organised so we have everything in order for the Christmas trading period. Summer ranging is pretty much put to bed, and everything is in place in terms of our outdoor toy offering. Now it’s just a case of making sure that, between me and the centres, we are keeping in top of replenishment orders which is always the key thing.

There are still a few stock issues, but that’s just the way it is this year. We have to try and get ahead of the game to understand in advance where the problems are, to ensure that we don’t have gaps in our ranges. With all the increases in living costs, we also need to ensure we have the correct price points in place for pick up lines, pocket money toys and birthday presents. Parents and grandparents will still want to treat their children as they get a lot of pleasure from doing so, and we get a lot of families visiting our garden centres.