Talking Shop

Shop, collaborate and listen

Sam Giltrow caught up with independent retailers to find out what’s bringing in customers at the moment and how they are finding trade as we hit the summer months.

Tom Popple - The Toy Planet, Wantage

We have spent the past few months trading from our new, bigger store in Wantage and business has been really great.

The original store was set up in 2017, when myself and my business partner Steve Taylor joined forces. Steve had been selling vintage toys from a small shop in Wantage; I became a customer of his and fell in love with what he was doing. My background was in wholesaling video games, and we combined out expertise to start our first shop, with both new and pre-owned stock, mostly Lego, video games and collectible toys.

Over Christmas 2020, we upgraded to the new shop in Wantage and when we were allowed to re-open the following April, we moved into the 2,300sq ft premises. We had outgrown the previous location and were looking to expand the business, but what tipped the balance was the Bounce Back Loan from the government. We used that to invest in fitting out the new place. Maybe it was a bit of a risk because of the lockdown, to take on a shop that was three times the size and price, but it has proved to be beneficial. As well as expanding our offering, we have also taken on extra staff because of the move.

Lego is extremely popular, and we have built up a wide consumer base in the area. Lego Star Wars, Harry Potter, Lego City and Speed Champions ranges are probably our biggest sellers. As well as stocking the latest ranges, we sell pre-owned Lego sets and parts, which offers an extra service to enthusiasts. We have a tie-up with the recycling centre in Oxfordshire that intercepts discarded toys destined for landfill, which is beneficial for the environment and for us. We buy used Lego by weight, which we use to rescue sets with parts missing and make up sets, otherwise we sell it in our pick and mix.

When the shop was closed over lockdown, we continued selling on online marketplaces and our own website. All Lego sets saw a massive spike as people turned to construction toys while they were at home; demand was sky-high.

Our other main area of focus is collectibles. The Hasbro Black Series and Hot Toys ranges are hugely popular. We have a video game arcade area in the shop, which attracts customers keen on classic characters and retro collectibles. We have used the extra space in the new shop to increase the product lines that perform the strongest – the Lego area has expanded and is an even better seller. We also now stock a much wider range of plush toys, and sales have rocketed just because we have better space to display them effectively. We offer a variety of different trading cards and Pokémon sells really well, as do those based on video game characters such as Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, along with any of the Marvel and Star Wars branded ones – anything that fits around the TV and film memorabilia trends that our customers love.

With our expertise in collectibles ranges, we are definitely a destination store. We regularly get customers coming from London and the South Coast and once they come, they want to come back. Now that we have come out of lockdown, people are keen to get out and have fun and do different things and when customers visit us, it is an experience. I hope the momentum for construction toys will continue this summer. We saw a huge increase in sales when we were able to re-open and customers were desperate to get out into the shops again. Obviously, we also had something new to see in terms of the location. It has quietened down a bit since the sun has come out and people have more options on how to spend their time – and money. However, the business is busier than it has ever been and long may it continue.

John Testori - Bambola Toymaster, St Helier, Jersey

In terms of the summer ahead, I think we will be very busy. Jersey’s airport is open and there are a lot of UK passengers heading our way because they are so limited as to where they can travel. I think this will be great for our shops and hospitality sector which definitely need the visitors. We get a lot of custom from holidaymakers, but also, because the locals haven’t gone off the island, they have spent all that surplus money here. We pay less tax, so I think they have a bit more to spend.

Without a doubt, we believe we can recoup our losses from the past year, and the fact that we were forced to digitalise turned out to be a positive development. Of course, we did what everyone did, having moaned about online for years, we became an online retailer. We have kept an online presence going, but only for click and collect now the shops are open. Shopify was a godsend for us, because it’s a nice, easy system, but we are a brick and mortar retailer first and foremost. Happily, during the times we have been open, trading has been really good.

We installed a new till system three years ago, which we recently had to change to be compatible with Shopify because it needed to be app-based. Now we are mindful of the need to future-proof in case there is another lockdown, but we just have to flick a tab on the iPad and it’s back to online and delivering again. The pandemic has bullied us into the 21st century.

Lego is a huge area for us: it’s our biggest supplier by a country mile. Our contact here is superb and we receive fantastic service. The Lego Friends range has been on a growth spurt for the last couple of years and the new underwater Ninjago has been exceptionally well received. Lego Harry Potter is always strong too, and the exclusive set made available through Toymaster, which includes a hard-to-find gold figure, has been selling very well. We have two shops in St Helier, one of which has two floors. Because first floors can be ‘no go’ zones, we display our Lego ranges up there, so we have no issues getting people upstairs.

There’s also been strong demand for the bigger Lego sets, these start to sell as soon as they arrive in store – from a recent delivery of The Friends Apartments set, we sold four on the first weekend. I think this is because Lego now has a huge adult fan base. Last year there was a spurt because everyone was stuck at home, and this has created an even bigger following which doesn’t seem to have dropped off post-lockdown. Last March, when there was the threat of lockdown and a lot of uncertainty about how long it would go on for, big Lego sets were flying out the door - people were coming up to the counter with a £600 Millennium Falcon on their shoulder. It was mad.

We also offer a lot of other construction sets including Mega Blocks, which is invariably themed, as well as an assortment of Meccano kits. Model kits are also popular, as are self-assembly radiocontrolled cars. We are also very big on RC cars and the Maisto radio-controlled vehicles from Tobar sell well, especially the Rock Crawlers and 4 x 4s, which the customers are happy to pay for as they come with a rechargeable battery pack.

In term of the spend from holidaymakers, there’s always a mix of sales right across the shop. We have such great beaches on hand and when the weather is good, we sell a lot of buckets and spades, boogie boards and beach toys.

We have missed not going to shows and being able to see potential new product lines close up. Zooms are fantastic, but they are nowhere near as timeefficient, despite being good for maintaining contact and relationships, which I think is important. We have built up strong relationships with our suppliers over the years, and between the seven of us in the Bambola team, we have racked up over 100 years’ experience. This year, we celebrate our 60th anniversary and have been in our Parade store for 60 years. However, our future will be in the other store as it is bigger, and we own it. In the autumn of 2022, we will be expanding those premises, taking over the adjacent property to create an even bigger central shop. There is plenty to look forward to.

Julie Bates - Clarkes of Sussex

We are a Toymaster member and run six stores across Sussex and Surrey. Not only do we sell toys, but we also stock cards, arts & crafts and gifts – we are almost like mini department stores. However, toys and stationery are very important parts of the business.

At the moment, we are doing particularly well with pushpoppers – the craze is still going at pace – and we are historically very strong on Pokémon. Sales have always been steady and the volume that we sell is crazy. The trading cards are the top sellers and that whole area has now moved more into the kidult market, with many more adults becoming collectors of the cards. We also do well with other Pokémon ranges such as plush; with the Pokémon brand, the latest thing is always the most sought after, whatever it is.

Lego is perennially popular, and we are seeing particularly strong sales at the moment on Harry Potter, Minecraft and Lego City. In terms of tech toys, our VTech and Leapfrog ranges have also been performing very well. I think this may be due to little ones being stuck at home and doing more learning from home in the lockdowns.

With the recent hot weather, there has been huge demand for outdoor toys, all kinds of which are selling really well. Paddling pools have obviously been a number one buy, followed by badminton sets, footballs and anything that can be played with outdoors.

In store, footfall is unfortunately still down. Following the lockdown, we had a really good opening fortnight, but it has now dropped back to a level which is lower than it should be. I think people are still a bit unsure about coming back in store but hopefully they will gain confidence as time goes on, particularly as many adults have now had two vaccinations. We only had a website for art supplies during the lockdowns, so we were very glad to get the doors back open. The weekends are still busy though, and Thursdays and Fridays are starting to pick up.

In terms of stationery, things should be better this year in the run up of ‘back to school’. Our orders are already in, and we have been quite considered in our ordering, which is now little and often rather than committing to bigger bulk orders; it has been so difficult to forecast what will happen. I think the biggest uptake we have seen since we re-opened has been greetings cards, because people said the selection just wasn’t there in the supermarkets.

I always try to stay positive, and I am hopeful of a good summer ahead. I expect our stores in Brighton and Lewes will be busy with tourists and with many families planning staycations, this can only help our sales.

Stuart Harper - Harper’s Toymaster, Penrith

We are hoping for big summer after all we have been through during the past year. The first couple of weeks after we re-opened and the half-term holiday were superb, but although Saturdays are still busy, it can be quite quiet during the week.

I’m sure many people will be having staycations this summer, so hopefully they will be shopping locally. Being on the edge of the Lake District, we get a lot of tourists coming into the area, and more people holidaying in the UK can only be good news for us.

Our biggest seller at the moment is pushpoppers, which we get from both H Grossman and Muddleit. The Rainbow Pushpoppers from HGL are a favourite with customers, and we’ve just got some new pineapple pushpoppers in. They are still extremely popular – simply flying out of the door, and I think this will continue well into the summer. We have also been selling lots of Ty Beanie Boos, Puffies and Squish-a-Boos.

Lego continues to sell well, in particular City, Technic and Marvel Avengers, and our Schleich range is also very popular; this creates returning customers as they build their collections. Britains farm toys are also proving popular this year, especially the JCB range and, in this Britains’ centenary year, we are looking forward to marking it and selling the Fordson Major tractor later in the summer when it arrives. All kinds of outdoor toys have seen strong sales with the recent good weather we have had.

I have changed the way we have been ordering, given the uncertainty caused by the pandemic. Recently, I have been holding back and just buying as and when, because I feel there is a need to be cautious. We still have quite a bit of stock left over from last year, and even though I have been refreshing our offering, I have not been going mad, as I don’t want to be overstocked at the moment. But I am hoping that this is the end of restrictions, and we will be able to stay open from now on.

Although we don’t have a website for the shop, we do have a Facebook page and during the lockdowns we were able to upload photographs of stock and offer a click and collect service, which went very well. In fact, we have kept this service available, though it has quietened off a little bit now the shops are open and customers can come and browse at their leisure. I’m hopeful that business will get back to what it was previously and we will have a great summer.

indie viewpoint

Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes - Toy Barnhaus

Things are hotting up

Sitting here in 30-degree heat, we have just had the Boris announcement that there will be a further four weeks of restrictions. Personally, we feel it is the right thing to do to help with vaccinations, although it is tough for businesses affected. However, the continuing of social distancing in our stores has not hampered customers, and we have been very pleased with sales since we last re-opened. As we write this, it is the anniversary of reopening after the first lockdown; we are in a lot better place now, and customers are feeling a lot more positive too. With the European Championships taking place, there is noticeably more of a feelgood factor around for many. We are more than happy to meet our suppliers outside for lunch, as we try and catch up on this year so far.

What is really encouraging is that steady footfall is continuing, and the popper/fidget craze is still going strong. Credit to Grossman, which keeps bringing out variations on the theme, whether it is a fidget popper spinner, a pea pod popper, fidget tracks: all these are giving customers reasons to come back to us. Coupled with the new releases from Lego, there is plenty to drive customers into stores. There has been a rapid increase in sales in the kidult market, which has been building for a while now, translating into sales of higher price point lines.

We are also having a strong time on outdoor toys, especially with the ongoing travel restrictions leading to a boom in staycations. In the heatwave, we have seen pools and inflatables etc absolutely flying out, and when the weather is cooler, the focus turns to scooters, racquets and many assorted sizes of balls! We see this continuing until the end of August; we’re expecting a really good summer, as long as we can get hold of the stock.

Role play toys are part of our evergreen ranges. There had been a drop in dress up items, but that was mainly down to kids not being able to meet up for parties and should pick up again now. Our core role play range comes from Casdon, which provides a great selection of classic products with some relevant licences included. After that, lines such as generic medical and tool cases, play swords, and police and cowboy hats are consistent sellers. These are lines we keep in stock at all times, as part of our core ranges.

Sales of the new L.O.L Surprise lines are predictably high, and Pokémon trading cards continues to be absolutely massive. When you add this all together, it has made for a very pleasing two months since re-opening.

The biggest thing on our radar now is the early warning signs of patchy stock availability, due to shipping issues. We are looking at ordering lines earlier and are having to commit to quantities to ensure we will get the stock. There are also issues with price increases. This is completely understandable in the current climate, but each one needs to be evaluated. Most are still ok, but for some lines we have had to take the view that they are not viable at the new price point and delist them from our ranges going forward.

One of the things we have missed most is being able to see physical products, as there is only so much you can do over a Zoom/Power Point presentation. We are already planning to go to Autumn Fair and maybe the AIS show, just to see lines ‘in the flesh’, and maybe pick up on anything we might have missed during the year. From what we have seen, we have been impressed by the new Harry Potter Doll range from Spin Master, the new product innovations for Barbie and Tan Tan the Orangutan from Character. There’s a lot to look forward to.