Talking Shop

Talking Shop Quick, March!

This month, indie retailers tell Toy World what impressed them at Toy Fair, how trading is going so far this year and what they are looking forward to as we move into Q2.

Tony Duffy - Duffy’s Toyworld, Dunleer, Co Louth

It was very exciting to attend the toy fairs in both London and Nuremberg this year. Nuremberg was particularly beneficial for us, as our product range has shifted due to Brexit. Based in Eire, we have started to move away from importing from the UK and now get more of our stock from Europe, so we are exploring companies from countries such as France and Germany. Previously around 80% of our goods came from the UK and 20% from Europe, but Brexit has changed all of that. We’ve had horrendous problems ordering from the UK – we recently had a delivery that took five months to arrive, plus there are now so many added costs.

We like to range anything to do with imagination, creativity and development – these are the three key things we look for in new product. We saw six excellent companies at London Toy Fair that we really want to do business with, and many more when we were in Germany.

We are not into items that are all about gimmicks, or electronic toys. We like children to imagine, create and develop their own minds rather than just push buttons. We sell a lot of wooden toys because they last for years. We use various suppliers, but last year, we started working with Janod and were pleased at how well that range has performed.

Ireland is a small nation, and we have a limited number of customers living locally, so we like to change our product offering all the time. We also need to ensure that what we stock will bring people in from further afield, so we needs to offer something different and something people will be willing to travel for. Our website means we can deliver all over Ireland, and we’re in the process of updating it to make the online experience even more customer friendly.

Since the start of the year, we have been carrying out improvements to the shop to make it even more play friendly for children. We have extended our section of Bruder toys, which are supplied by Alpha Toys (Banaghan & Co here in Ireland). The range is a big seller for us and we will soon have around 1,000sq ft of space dedicated to Bruder, with around 300 SKUs. The tractors and agricultural vehicles are extremely popular with the local kids. We are also re-introducing an adult-free play area, which we had to stop during Covid, and that should go down well with the children.

We will continue to expand existing ranges like Playmobil, for which we already have 14 bays. This has always sold well for us, and it is a product I like very much as it has great play value and it’s ideal for teaching children about everyday life.

Generally speaking, we had a good year in 2022, but this year has started off a bit quieter. We're keen to bring in new stock that is different, so we are constantly checking what’s on the market. A lot of new items will also be added to our website over the next few months. We are well known for carrying product that isn’t available anywhere else in the country – our focus on toys for long-term play is the way we like it and how our customers like it. Many customers travel a fair distance – up to 200 miles – to buy from us, so we do need a point of difference to maintain our reputation.

We stock a wide range of sensory toys to help autistic children and have expanded the suppliers we get these from; we have recently brought in lines from Commotion and Learning Resources.

I’m looking forward to a good year ahead and working with both new and existing suppliers. I felt so excited to be at the toy fairs this year; there’s always something new to get enthusiastic about and I we will be very pleased to do business with the companies that we have in mind following the shows.

Simon Steel - Toy City, Wood Green

WWe have had a steady start to 2023; after the aggravations of stock problems we encountered last year, the situation this year has been much more stable.

Some new products have come in already and the new Lego launches in particular have helped bring customers into the store after Christmas. We stock a wide variety from Lego across all the key ranges; City, Friends, Marvel, Technic and Ninjago.

I went to Toy Fair in London as I always do; it was great to see more suppliers back there this year and I caught up with people I haven’t seen for years. Some of my old contacts have retired, so it was good to make new ones, and I came away with lots of catalogues and email addresses; I do find visiting the show in person makes all the difference, you pick up so many little details.

I love Wilton Bradley’s range and enjoy great sales with the company’s electric vehicles. At Toy Fair, I was pleased to see a new option for the mini bumper car, which sold so well for us last year. Wilton Bradley is launching a two-seater version, which I am excited about as I know it is going to bring us fantastic sales, especially as the price is so attractive. It is not too much bigger than the current model, and parents are going to love that it can be used by two children at once; the double seat is such a great new feature. We make a real effort in the way we display our vehicles, which I think is one reason they sell so well.

Pokémon enjoyed fantastic sales last year; it was remarkable how well the range performed, and it is proving to be just as popular again so far this year. We have created our own Pokémon fan community and have a range of customers involved, from kids to kidults, which is fantastic. We keep a strict eye on stock levels as even on quiet days, customers will come in and buy a booster set.

The Jada range from Simba Smoby UK sells well and is a favourite with our customers, in particular the Majorette cars, die cast collectibles and stylized movie figures.

It’s important to stay on top of current trends and know what is going on with things like movie releases. Last year, when Marvel’s Black Adam came out, the stock we ordered was in high demand and we were glad we had anticipated the appetite for the products.

We experienced our best ever year with Hot Wheels in 2022, another range which continues to enjoy fantastic sales. Mattel is bringing back Matchbox too and we are seeing good sales there already. Die cast is a key staple to have in stock - although it’s relatively low cost, it’s high volume; sometimes customers choose seven or eight cars as they are collecting them, which is brilliant.

Barbie remains strong, mainly the lower priced items. We are expecting the movie release to create renewed interest and will be on the lookout for the key lines from that, which should result in an uptick of sales. We have just placed an order for My First Barbie; as a slightly larger doll for younger children in a wide range of ethnicities, I am confident the range is going to do well, despite being slightly more expensive.

We had a Valentines window display for half term and then with World Book Day on the horizon, our World Book Week window went up. We carry a fantastic range of costumes in from Rubies, which we are confident will sell out; it’s always a popular time in the local schools.

In our windows, we often use the excellent assets from Toymaster and have noticed that makes a massive difference. It’s much more beneficial to our business than doing our own displays, although as we have two windows, we can still create our own when we choose. At Christmas, we’ll have a stock window in one and the Toymaster featured advertisements in the other. Our windows are not the biggest, but the Toymaster the posters are really impactful.

We visit the TK Maxx store in the local shopping centre on a regular basis to check the toy department. On occasion we have had to cancel orders of new, and sometimes licensed, products, where we could not compete on price. Our suppliers are very helpful; I send them photos of the TK Maxx products and the price, and they do what they can to help us. It’s not a constant problem as TK Maxx tends to stock end of line items, but occasionally that is not the case. I have to be aware of what is going on in the market so I can plan around that. We are feeling positive about the next few weeks and months and then it will be time for the Toymaster show, which I always really enjoy.

Sam Gascoigne - Toy Galaxy, Watford

Toy Fair was fantastic this year. There were some very exciting new product launches; ones which stood out for me were Ravensburger’s Disney Lorcana trading card game and Funko’s Bitty Pop! collectibles, which I think will be huge this year.

We’ve enjoyed a good start to trading in 2023, following an excellent end to 2022 when December sales were a lot better than anticipated. People were worried about the postal strikes and, following the pandemic, goodwill towards the retail sector continued, with customers delighted to be back in shops.

Last summer, we relocated our Watford store into a bigger unit nearby. We only had the ground floor open initially, but before Christmas were able to open the upper floor as well, giving us more space for offers and promotions. This worked really well, driving more footfall, and we are now looking at different ways we can potentially utilise that space going forward.

I know they have always been a massive seller, but Pokémon cards have been huge in the past few weeks. We do extremely well with the single Hot Wheels cars

and are also getting behind Zuru’s Mini Brands, which are proving to be great impulse purchases and a popular pocket money choice. Anything dinosaur If themed sells well and Zuru’s Smashers Dino Island Egg has been particularly popular. I think it’s the fact they are collectible and good value at £9.99. It’s that time of year, post-Christmas, when sales are more about parents looking to treat and reward their children, so that price point is ideal.

Squishmallows are still performing strongly, and we have also increased our selection of Ty product recently, which has been selling well, particularly the licensed character Squish-A-Boos such as Paddington and Peppa Pig.

Following on from Toy Fair, there are a few brands we are looking to extend. We have only carried a limited range from Funko to date, so we are looking to increase the brand in store, especially the Bitty Pop! collectibles. Gabby’s Dollhouse was a huge hit this Christmas and it remains very popular, so we are increasing our selection this year.

There’s also a lot to be excited about in terms of movie releases this year. The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film is sure to be huge. Other than Goo Jit Zu, there’s not really a killer action figure product right now, so the Turtles should be very successful. Then there’s the Barbie Movie which I’m sure will lead to an increase in Barbie sales. Movies are great drivers of product and the Turtles and Barbie both offer great retro appeal to all ages, as classics that are so fundamental in the history of toys. Paw Patrol is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year and bringing out a new movie, so there’s plenty to look forward to from some true blockbuster licences.We will be holding a series of events over the year to enhance the in store experience and interact more with our customers, kicking things off at Easter. We are very much part of the community and are known as ‘the local toyshop’, which is always nice. It’s inevitable this year that customers will have to to cut their cloth accordingly in terms of spending, but with a focus on reasonable price points, we will continue to offer an inspiring selection of products - it’s all about giving people choice.

Based on how last year ended, I’m feeling confident about the rest of this year, and I see no reason why it can’t be another good year for the toy industry.

Indie Viewpoint

Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes - Toy Barnhaus

On the road again

It is great to be back into Toy Fair season properly now, and we write this after an early start on our way up to Birmingham for Spring Fair. It has been a very busy start to the year, and although it was good to see the shows return last year, this is the first year that it felt truly back to normal (or as normal as things can get these days!). With Mark able to come along this year after missing last year due to an ill-timed injury, we really made the most of our time at Toy Fair, packing in more appointments than ever before.

Our lunch appointment at the Character stand did not disappoint with the catering - and they had some fantastic new launches for this year too. There was a genuine buzz to the show, with enough people around to create a busy vibe. We saw lots of excellent products across several suppliers, although nothing has really made us go ‘wow’ yet. DKB Toys had some interesting new craft lines, including Play-Doh Air Clay and ZZand - both great products which offer good value. Lego had some exciting new lines, especially for adults, and we know we will do well with them. The Lorcana TCG from Ravensburger has the potential to be a big hit later in the year and there are some great extensions to the ever-popular Squishmallows from Jazwares.

The IMC Toys range looked strong, with lots of new introductions for Cry Babies and Bloopies, and the prices were good too. We are keeping a keen eye on price points this year, as cost is always on our customers’ minds. So we were pleased to find plenty of good value lines out there, but on the flip side, there were also lines that we found a bit too expensive in the current climate.

Overall it was a great show and a positive start to the year. We look forward to the end of the building work at Olympia and hope there will be more of a choice of places to eat on site, as on the days we didn’t have a lunchtime appointment, the sandwich selection was not great.

Next, we had a quick trip out to Germany. We visited one of our clearance suppliers who was in Nuremberg - and Mark had been missing his bockwurst sausages. It was a flying visit, but we picked up some good clearance lines out there, so it was worth the trip.

Looking at sales, the first six weeks of the year have been very encouraging. Despite all you hear on the news, customers are still shopping, and we traded up throughout January. There is no real change in our bestsellers: Pokémon continues to lead the way, with the new Crown Zenith launch proving popular and customers looking forward to the release of Scarlet & Violet in a couple of months. Squishmallows just goes on and on; with new waves arriving regularly to keep the range fresh, it continues to sell very well. The new Lego launches have also been popular, with new Minifigures and the Star Wars lines selling well.

As the days become longer, we are starting to look at bringing in our outdoor ranges. We recently placed our summer order with Dolu; the company has a great selection of new items, with Motos, ride-ons and trikes all good quality at a great price. Footballs sell all year round, as long as we keep the ball stands full. This was an ongoing challenge and the bane of our lives back in our Woolworths days, but by buying them deflated and keeping them in stock at all times, we sell thousands all year round.

Finally, we cannot finish this column without mentioning that it was an honour and a delight to win Best Independent Retailer (multiple stores) at the Toy Industry Awards at Toy Fair. Thanks to anyone who put us forward, we are very grateful for the recognition. It rounded off what has been an excellent 2022 for us. Here’s to another good year!