13 minute read
Talking Shop
Santa’s on his way!
As indies ready themselves for the final push before the big day, several took time out from the busy shop floor to chat to Marianna Casal about how sales have been going this festive season.
Teresa Carter - Chocoloons, Coleraine, Northern Ireland
Last May, we moved to a bigger store, and since the move we’ve been trying to diversify. Previously, with smaller premises, we focused on smaller, cheaper toys but now people come here for bigger toys too. However, we still see great sales from lines such as Panini football cards and Match Attack from Topps, as well as Pokémon cards.
Summer has historically been our busiest season as we’re a seaside town, but we’ve tried to bring in new stock this year to make Christmas busy too. We have brought in more big box items like dolls prams, which we hope will sell well in the run up to Christmas. Our Christmas Club began around mid-August to help our customers budget for those larger purchases.
Most of the children that visit the store are attracted to smaller items that look fun to play with. The big shift in buying that we’ve seen is that parents are looking more towards lower price points – not the pick-up lines as such, but items at £20-£40 rather than high value items of £100 or so. If they do spend on higher priced items, they’re looking for ones which have genuine play value and won’t stay in the cupboard for most of the year.
The Christmas Club has seen people buy dolls, prams, balance bikes, electric scooters from MV Sports, L.O.L. Surprise!, Barbie, Bruder trucks, Furby and Tonies. We ordered the Squishmallows Christmas assortment this year, which we were confident would sell well; we have stocked Squishmallows since before the brand became a top licence, and it’s been exciting to see how it has developed.
This year, we’ve worked hard on offering toys which are a bit different. As an indie store, we look for lines that customers can’t find everywhere else, and we’ve tried to be diverse and cater for different ages and preferences, so customers have choice. We offer a huge range of wooden toys which is our biggest section, including a wide selection from Melissa & Doug. This is a trusted brand where parents welcome an educational factor along with the play factor, and they can be confident the product will last for years.
We’re delighted to be seeing growth thanks to our move and the changes we’ve made within the store; it’s nice to see our efforts to expand and diversify our product mix pay off. It’s no mean feat to run a successful independent toyshop - and we also run a sweetshop at the same time. Our hard work means we are on track to end the year 15% up on last year, which we are delighted with. Over summer, there was a bit of a drop in sales; it was tough for parents, having to keep the kids amused as well as feed them, with the cost of everything. We’re glad sales went up again once the kids went back to school.
We have also been putting a lot of effort into our social media. I’m trying to post as much as I can and we’re adding more and more products to our online website, which is a work in progress.
We are looking forward to attending London Toy Fair next year. It’s really important to us to be able to see the product live rather than just through a computer screen. We will be looking for products to refresh our range. We’re also planning to develop sections that we feel we currently underserve; for example, we cater more for older children than for infants at the moment. We have Halilit in our sights in order to put more focus on babies. We’re also keen to talk to Learning Resources and are hoping to source more items for older girls such as Top Model from Depesche, and we’ll check out more stationery, secret diaries, keyrings and the like.
Since the 24th November up until the 19th of this month, we will have a pop-up stall at the Enchanted Winter Garden event here in Northern Ireland.
We want to wish everybody a happy trading season and a very happy Christmas.
Wayne Kincaid - Plaza Toymaster, Llantwit Major, Wales
Plaza Toymaster is a family-owned independent toy store offering a wide variety of toys including arts & crafts, pre-school, dress-up, action figures, modelling, gifts and pocket-money. We opened in 1981 in
Llantwit Major on the Bristol Channel coast, which is one of the four towns in the Vale of Glamorgan. We are a relatively small town which, fortunately for us, means that we have quite a loyal following and the community knows of us.
Sales have been on par with last year so far and Pokémon, Squishmallows and Hot Wheels have been our best-sellers this year – no surprises there. The hype over Squishmallows has calmed down a bit, although sales remain very strong, and this year saw a real resurgence for Hot Wheels, which I found interesting –it’s one of those brands which keeps coming back.
We run a Christmas Club to help shoppers with their spending and we already had people setting up their payments from September, as soon as the kids went back to school after the summer holidays. The Christmas Club has been popular this year, and we like that because it encourages customer loyalty. Being located in a small town means people are aware of the scheme.
The gifts customers have been choosing this year have once again included bigger items such as the more expensive, technical Lego sets and larger Pokémon plush. In preparation for Christmas, we have brought in larger licensed play sets such as Paw Patrol, Thomas & Friends and Hot Wheels. We don’t stock these much during the rest of the year as demand just isn’t there, but they are popular as presents.
2023 has seen a comeback for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and the new TMNT movie in the summer has been the best movie for us this year in terms of driving licensed toy sales. These weren’t only for kids either, there was also an interest from adults, especially with the action figures which they perhaps had versions of when they were younger.
I’m quietly optimistic about Christmas sales. Despite all the doom and gloom in the media, sales have held up remarkably well.
Justine Elliott - Thorntons Toymaster, Chippenham
Squishmallows, Pokémon, Funko Pop and Tonies have been our best-sellers throughout recent months, and for the back end of the year, we’ve brought in all the new collections of these brands to keep the momentum going. Ty plush is another best-seller that we have replenished extensively in preparation for Christmas.
Customers began their Christmas shopping in October - we knew because they were asking for gift receipts - and things like Playmobil, big Lego sets and Paw Patrol play sets were being bought to put away. This year, it seems that Christmas purchasing patterns are similar to last year’s; as we move into December, in the last weeks and days before Christmas, we tend to see more pocket-money items and stocking fillers being bought.
Having said that, we have noticed a shift in when Christmas shopping begins – it was earlier this year. Now, when we compare Christmas figures year on year, we will have to use the figures from the final two months of this year, rather than just December.
In the run up to Christmas, we have been giving out freebies to children if they are polite. We have treated them to the wonderful colouring books from Toymaster which have games and quizzes inside and we have also given away some teddy bears which puts smiles on kids’ faces.
We have already begun looking at orders for Q1 to restock on our standard everyday toys, once Christmas present buying is out of the way. We’ll restock line such as vehicle sets that sell well all year round. We will be attending London Toy Fair in January and will visit other trade shows too in order to plan for the rest of 2024.
It was sad to lose Wilko this year; that was a retailer which brought a lot of people into town who would pass by our store and maybe pop in. I hope that it won’t
reduce footfall too much now that it’s gone. However, people still need to do their Christmas shopping, and I am still optimistic about a good Christmas.
Jonny Rogers - David Rogers Toymaster –Bambridge, Portadown and Kilkeel, Northern Ireland
David Rogers Toymaster has 40 years of experience serving thousands of customers each year. We run three retail stores, located to the south of Northern Ireland, where we start the Christmas season early. From September, we were already making Christmas sales - our Christmas Club facility helps with this as it encourages customers to get organised early, which suits us.
We don’t think the types of gifts parents buy has changed greatly from last year. We expect to sell a similar mix of products, even the expensive ones, but the main difference is that customers will perhaps only buy one big item rather than two or three.
Farming toys are very popular here all year round. Our best-sellers at the moment are Bitzee from Spin Master, Cookeez Makery Oven playset from Moose Toys and Tonies. We have had great success with battery operated ride ons this season, especially Wilton Bradley’s Xootz Bumper Cars, which have sold really well, and Heelies, which have also been in demand.
Christmas always happens and most parents will cut back on other things to ensure they give their children nice presents. I do think we might struggle to sell all of the new ‘top toys for Christmas’ as the big retailers have been selling so many of them at cost price or below. This year is the most brutal I have ever seen in my 26 years in the trade; all profits are being sucked out by a few big chains.
So, as well as the high-profile lines, we’ll focus on the lines we can make margin on. We always bring in new stock for Christmas – innovation is what the toy trade thrives on. If it was the big thing last year, it won’t be the big thing this year. My staff say I’m addicted to buying new toys and should get some professional help, but it’s not a bad fault to have in my line of work.
We do a live show with a local blogger where we spend an hour showing and talking about all our latest and favourite toys. This is great fun, and the customers seem to love it; it’s been a very successful way of reaching more people. We have also run several evening shopping events, opening up our Bambridge and Portadown stores until 9pm on Fridays to allow for Christmas Club and late-night shopping, and these have gone down well.
At Christmas, attractive window displays are vital to get shoppers in a festive mood and draw customers into our stores. We always use the Toymaster window as it is easy and gives an instant Christmas feel. This Christmas, we are also featuring a giant ride on lorry and trailer which has captivated customers. If it’s good enough for Coca Cola, it’s good enough for Rogers Toymaster.
indie viewpoint
Pigs in Blankets on Trampolines, anyone?
We’re writing this with 45 sleeps until Christmas. Where has the year gone? From sweltering heat to torrential rain, we have certainly had it all this year. With the most important weeks of the year left, we are hoping that all our planning will come to fruition.
Trade in October started off slowly and picked up with a strong half term when sales were boosted by the poor weather. We also ran several events in our stores to help drive footfall. In early November, it was obvious that customers were really looking round, making very considered purchases and watching what they spent. Our average transaction value has reduced, and people are paying particular attention to price points. We’re expecting this to be the case throughout the Black Friday promotional period, which some retailers started at the beginning of November. Our Black Friday event now runs for about 10 days, and we have also added more items to our sale so that customers can see they are getting value. When the DreamToys list came out, there was a lot of good publicity around it, which we were pleased to see. However, we have not really been asked much for many of the toys on the list, particularly the higher priced lines, and so far this year, no one single line is standing out as the ‘must-have hot toy’. People are asking for Bitzee from Spin Master though, and the Barbie brand is still massive, not just the dolls but other licensed products too. Pokémon continues to be in high demand, and we know the Disney Lorcana Chapter 2 will sell well when it releases. Games are starting to move now, with a couple of new ones really taking off, such as Winning Moves’ Squishmallows Monopoly and PlayMonster’s Pigs on Trampolines.
For the final few weeks, one of our key focus areas is Pocket Money. This is a massive category for stocking fillers and is an area that that larger retailers tend to avoid due to the number of SKUs and size of the lines. Every year, without fail, our best-selling line is the Whoopee Cushion! However, anything that is squishy or squeezy is always popular. We have a Stretchy Grinch this year, which has already proved to be a massive seller. We stock a lot of retro pocket money toys; items such as magic springs, spud guns, jingle sticks and recorders are all among our bestsellers. The whole category is an excellent margin driver, and with the cost pressures on consumers this year, we expect it to be more important than ever.
There’s no rest for the wicked, as the period between Christmas and New Year is also very important. Although it is not as busy as pre-Christmas, it’s like having five Saturdays in a row, as everyone comes in to spend Christmas money and vouchers. We will also have a January sale and add in some lines that we are overstocked on to help clear them.
Looking forward to 2024, we are expecting January to be a steady month, as usual, with kids still spending their Christmas money. New introductions will give sales a boost; we’re looking forward to the January Lego launches which always drive a good amount of footfall into stores.
May we wish everyone a Merry Christmas, and we hope Santa brings good sales to the toy industry!
