Talking Shop
The
rollercoaster of
retail Dave Middleton -
Sam Giltrow spoke to indie retailers as 2021 drew to a close, to hear how the last few weeks of the year were going and what they are looking forward to in 2022.
Midco Toys, Burton-Upon-Trent
Christmas trading for us has been very good – up 60% on Christmas 2019, mainly driven by Pokémon, Lego and Funko. I would say Pokémon has become a backbone for independent stores, and I hope this continues in 2022. Christmas sales in general have been spread across the store but ranges that have performed particularly well include CoComelon and Bluey. We also sold a lot of jigsaws in 2021 and they continue to sell well, with Ravensburger being the most popular across all age groups. I bought early for Christmas this year and am pleased to say I bought the right product. There was some scaremongering about there not being enough stock, but we have done alright. I am planning to go to the London, Nuremberg and New York toy fairs - I’m just hoping they can all go ahead. We have also been doing some previews, and it’s been fantastic to get back into showrooms. A lot of films are due to be released at the cinema throughout 2022, such as Jurassic World, Lightyear, Batman and Aquaman, which should translate into sales for us as new product comes out. However, the pandemic has meant that we can now do just as well from streaming, which has opened up movies to a whole new audience. I have to say I am a little bit pessimistic about 2022 and still worried about what will happen with regards to the virus. Because people were not able to get away on foreign holidays in 2021, they have been spending a lot more money on the kids this Christmas, making sure they get what they want, and this kicked in early. If the situation with the virus improves, people are likely to spend their money on going on holiday once again.
Brendan Will - Wills Toy Shop, Aberdeen Christmas was pretty good for us, with the usual best sellers such as Lego; I imagine that was the same for many shops. Pokémon seems to have been its own animal this year, and it’s been flying out the door with all the 25th anniversary activity behind it. Plush sales have been pretty good too – especially bears. Customers seem to have been buying more traditional toys this Christmas including a lot of games, although here we have sold more indie games than those from bigger companies. The range from Big Potato has been particularly popular, as well as Dobble, from Asmodee. Basket spend has been up, particularly among the customers who use our loyalty scheme, and I’m sure this is because they prefer to physically get their hands on what they want rather than shopping online and worrying about whether things will turn up or not. We have a lot of loyal customers and it’s lovely to see the same folk week in, week out – it’s great to have their support. We have not suffered too badly with stock shortages, though we probably could have done with more Lego. I’ve been very pleased with stock levels for Pokémon. I planned earlier for Christmas this year and had a lot of deliveries nice and early. This was a deliberate strategy as we also run a Post Office and getting deliveries in December is not ideal. With the supply issues this year, this proved to be a good move. I’m looking forward to seeing what new lines come out for 2022, and to the Toymaster show, which I hope will happen, so that we can view the new ranges properly and meet up with other indies.
Toy World 55
