Talking Shop

The rollercoaster of retail

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.

Dave Middleton - 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.

Karen Sasse - J & J Wilson Toymaster, Bude

Christmas sales were slow to start but they did pick up. I think a number of people were aiming to buy online, but when they didn’t get what they’d ordered or find what they were looking for, they came to us.

Because of all the recent delivery problems, I’d put off ordering any more stock for the last couple of months of 2021 until the new year. Unfortunately, this left us a bit light, and I guess our takings would probably have been better had we managed to get more stock in. However, on the positive side, Pokémon has been one of our biggest sellers - it sells out as soon as it comes in – along with Lego, Ty soft toys, anything Bluey and our range of VTech.

I am looking forward to seeing all the new product for the coming year and particularly enjoy attending the Toymaster show; for 2021, I have very much been relying on my reps, agents and catalogues.

Squishmallows is a range that will continue to do well in 2022: it has been massive this year, in such high demand all year round. I’m just waiting for a delivery of some new stock with a limited-edition Ice-Cream, which I’m sure won’t be on the shelves for very long at all.

We had an amazing summer in 2021, with so many tourists coming to Cornwall, and we hit way above our targets. We’re hoping that will continue again this year. I think with the new variant, many people will still be hesitant about going abroad. Overall, I am feeling optimistic about the year ahead – you have to be!

Brian Bucky - Blewetts of Hayle

The early part of the Christmas run up seemed to be quieter this year. I think many people were still shopping online, but they started coming into the shop as Christmas approached, worried things would not get delivered in time.

Pokémon has been the biggest seller for Christmas, and it’s been a phenomenal year for the trading cards in general thanks to the marketing surrounding the 25th anniversary. Tech Deck, from Spin Master, has also performed amazingly well – there seems to have been a huge surge since the success of the UK in skateboarding and BMX at the Olympics. I mistakenly put in a triple order in the summer but managed to sell it all easily.

Barbie has been popular this Christmas, and Playmobil has been strong too – there was a fantastic promotional period with 30% off everything, which went down well with our customers.

I would say they have spent more this Christmas, and the amount being spent on each child has gone up. Families have maybe not been able to go on holiday this year, so they’ve had money to spend, and wanted to make it a nice Christmas, with extra treats.

On the whole it has not been too bad getting the stock we wanted. As soon as our busy summer holiday period was over in September, I decided to get ordering straight away for Christmas and it really paid off.

We are looking forward to Toy Fair this year, to seeing everyone after such a long time and seeing product in the flesh – you just can’t beat it. At the Toymaster regional meeting in Swindon, it was so great to be able to pick things up and look at them properly again.

Jurassic World lines are looking good for 2022 with the release of the new film, and I’m excited about the new Lego range of minifigures – the Marvel Super Heroes minifigures went bonkers in 2021, we sold out out six boxes in just 10 days.

We are hoping we have another good summer. It was crazy for us last year with lots of families coming to Cornwall – we were about 50% up on our usual summer trade. I think people will still be a bit worried about travelling abroad, and that can only benefit us.

John Bentley - Howleys Toymaster, Weymouth

We had a steady Christmas with a gradual increase in sales as we got closer to the day, however, sales did not pick up as much as we’d hoped they would.

I didn’t see much evidence of people out in force though, so I don’t think it only applied to the toy trade. Footfall has been down, and the new work from home message from the government just before Christmas hasn’t helped. Thankfully, the reintroduction of masks has not put people off and they are quite happy to wear them again, though they do not stay as long in the shop to browse like they used to.

I think we are as happy as we can be under the circumstances, and the level of business we are doing is OK. Obviously, as retailers, we always want more, we always look to improve and we always look for growth, but I think as last Christmas was so difficult, we have to be grateful for what we can get at the moment.

This Christmas, no one line had outstanding sales. Lego and L.O.L. Surprise! performed strongly as usual, as did the Sylvanian Families, Schleich and Barbie ranges - and lots of games, but it really has been quite a mixture this year.

Price increases have been an issue and, as a consequence, we have had to cancel some orders as the prices were so ridiculous and just not workable.

We try to stay optimistic though and are lucky that our two main stores are coastal, so we can look forward to peak sales in the summer. We are planning for a good summer in 2022. The excitement for next year will start to build when we get to Toy Fair, and can meet all our suppliers once again.

Tim Evans - Toys & Games of Worcester

Christmas trade was good for us; in fact, we have been pleased to be trading well ever since we came out of lockdown.

People seemed to start shopping earlier for Christmas this year, but this didn’t dampen demand moving into the last week. Trade was strong from the start, and we’ve enjoyed particularly buoyant sales from Lego and Pokémon. These two ranges are our stand outs; even though I’m sure all indies will tell you these are their best sellers, we have a lot of specialism in this area which gives us an edge. Board games were also strong and model kits continue to grow in popularity. Spend remained good for high ticket items, with a strong ' shop local' feeling out there and very strong customer loyalty. We work really hard to be part of the local community and our bond with our customers has strengthened throughout the pandemic.

It looks like we are facing another uncertain year with Covid, which makes it very difficult to plan. We have retail, online and local delivery options so we cover all the bases, and although we can carry on come what may, having the right product mix in an ever-changing situation can be really difficult. There are items which only have strong demand if the store is open, while other products will sell in much higher numbers if we're not and just trading online. I'm planning for every scenario which means my stores will be fuller than normal, but with the inflation rate so high, investing in lots of stock now and having good availability is not a bad thing. Whatever happens, we remain enthusiastic for the future; we've navigated these stormy waters so far and will continue to do so. We've had great support from our key suppliers to drive us forward and we still have a lot of momentum going into 2022

I had booked a holiday for January which fell on the same week as Toy Fair but with the new travel rules, we've cancelled and now intend to go to Toy Fair instead. We'll also be at the Spring Fair and probably Toymaster this year too. Hopefully all these events will happen as I can’t stand those virtual showrooms!

Phil Heath - Heaths Toymaster, Barrow-in-Furness

A lot of our Christmas trade came late this year, getting busier in the last few weeks before Christmas. It has been like that for the last couple of years because of internet shopping. I think it’s a combination of people worrying about orders turning up on time and the last-minute shoppers.

I don’t think Black Friday had as much of an impact this year. People probably just had a look to see if there was something they were going to buy anyway at a cheaper price. Black Friday has now become Black Week; I think it’s just about putting enough promotions in place to make you look attractive to your customers and discourage them from going elsewhere.

We have changed our focus in the last couple of years and are now sticking with tried and tested brands such as Lego - which has been massive for us this Christmas – and Schleich. Plastic model kits and games have also sold well, though there hasn’t been a standout games title this year. Last year we sold hundreds of copies of the Lakes Monopoly because of where we are based, as part of a promotion with a local hospice to whom we donated some of the sale price, but that was a unique situation.

People seem to be focusing on traditional games this Christmas such as Monopoly and Cluedo and even things like dominoes.

I’m looking forward to seeing the new product launches in 2022, especially Lego – it’s such a great product that appeals to all ages and tastes. We’ve been building up our model kits offering over the past couple of years; Revell and Airfix are always strong sellers and we have branched out into other suppliers such as Bachmann and Humbrol.

I think 2022 will be a steady year, due to the economy and pandemic, but we are not too worried. We also sell office supplies, so with people also now working from home, these sales should help us weather any upcoming lean patches.

Dee Mellor - Salter Street Toys and Models, Stafford

This year, the Christmas rush didn’t start until much later. November was very positive, and we were up on sales from the previous year, but December started off more slowly and the build-up to Christmas has been very gradual, not like December normally is.

Some people still seem a bit wary about coming out, and from mid-December were not quite sure what was going to happen. They might also be worried about saving money because of bills going up; I think consumer confidence has taken a bit of a knock.

We have had some stock issues - some orders we were expecting didn’t turn up at all which did affect sales, but we’ve had plenty of stock of other lines.

Playmobil sold exceptionally well this Christmas, helped by a particularly attractive offer for Toymaster members for a week, which meant we could sell it for 30% less. Some customers had put Playmobil in their Christmas Club order, so we contacted them to let them know they could have the discount if they paid it that week, which helped takings.

Crystal Art, from Craft Buddy, has been a great success across the range. It’s something a bit different for our customers and there are lots of new lines in the range for 2022 which we are looking forward to.

Model kits have also sold well this Christmas. When we started 10 years ago, we stuck to tried and tested brands like Airfix, but we have moved with the times and developed our offering to include a much wider selection, bringing in many different makes. Bachmann has been the top selling brand this last few months, with some great offers.

It’s been a very strange time, and although things do seem to be getting better, I think it very much depends on what happens during the next few weeks. We have been planning ahead, booking our trip to Toy Fair, and we really hope that can go ahead.

Nigel Kemp - Halesworth Toy Shop, Halesworth

We’ve had a much better Christmas this year than in 2020, and we have been busy ever since we came back from lockdown last April.

I think people are very glad to have been able to come into the shop. We’re lucky to have had strong local support for a few years now, so the ‘shop local’ message has really got across. In the lead up to Christmas, free car parking near the shop on some days during the week helped attract customers.

I managed to get most of the stock I wanted, despite all the problems, and I strategically topped up all my ranges in September and October. I packed the shop out with as much stock as I physically could, and I think it was a good move.

This Christmas, we’ve seen a huge demand for wooden toys as presents, particularly those from Toynamics’ lovely Hape range, and also Orange Tree Toys. There is a noticeable trend towards people wanting more eco-friendly toys – or toys that they know will last.

The Sylvanian Families range has also had a very good year. I like it because it encourages repeat customers. Ty and VTech have done well too; we always keep a good display of these ranges and I think it helps. Board games have been popular for Christmas, as ever, and this has been across all ranges, but games such as Articulate, Rummikub and Cluedo have performed particularly well. For customers looking for something a bit quirky, we also stock some Big Potato games which have gone down well, along with more unusual titles such as Cobra Paw, from Bananagrams.

Looking at the year ahead, I am quietly optimistic. January and February are never my favourite months, a bit flat after all the excitement of Christmas, but they often turn out better than you think. I’ve sold a lot of vouchers and people will have Christmas money to spend.

I’m hoping the success of the summer will be repeated – last year was the busiest we’d had for six or seven years, as we had so many holidaymakers and people who have second homes in the area.

Libby Osborne - Osborne Sports & Toys, Rushden

We’ve had an absolutely wonderful Christmas this year. We don’t usually open on Sundays and Mondays, but we did throughout December, and we were extremely busy.

Our main customers tend to be grandparents buying for their grandchildren. I think it’s because they prefer to come into the shop and see what they are buying rather than buying online. They always take their time and have a good browse. I think this year, people have wanted to spend more and go all out, because it was such a disappointing Christmas in 2020.

We have sold a lot of evergreen toys and games, with classic ranges such as Lego and Playmobil being especially popular. Sylvanian Families has also sold very well, and I think this is because we have no competition for that brand locally. Customers come to us because they know we sell the whole range and they will have a good choice, and it’s the same with Playmobil. As long as you have a reputation as a stockist with a good breadth of range in a particular category, people will seek you out.

Diecast cars have been huge this year too, particularly Hot Wheels, and Barbie has also been a very strong range, so it seems customers are opting for a lot of non-battery toys. Games have also been popular, especially the old favourites such as Kerplunk and Connect 4.

I’m looking forward to getting along to Toy Fair and having the chance to see new product and meet the suppliers. Sylvanian Families always seems to have lots of exciting new launches such as new families, so I’m looking forward to seeing those. Playmobil is going from strength to strength, with its product getting more sophisticated and detailed. The new movies coming out in 2022 will also mean lots of exciting new product. It’s always good to refresh my offering with new lines and I can’t wait to see them all and make my selections.

Lynda Bartlett - W & J Walker Toymaster, Ballymoney, Co Antrim

Christmas has been so much better for us this year, compared to 2020.

There wasn’t a standout best-selling toy this year, but the Barbie range has been a strong seller for us, particularly the Barbie Colour Reveal dolls – I think people like the element of surprise that is involved. Being in a rural location, we also sell a lot of farm toys and Britains has been very popular all year. There were a lot of new releases in 2021, including some nice limited-edition tractors to mark the company’s 100th anniversary, and these flew out of the door.

Last Christmas, we had a phenomenal run on games. I though this might be because people knew they would be stuck at home, but I’m pleased to say the trend has continued this year (everyone must have enjoyed it!). It’s the more traditional games that have been selling, old favourites such as Connect 4 and Guess Who? and even Snakes and Ladders. Everyone seems to be craving games they know and love.

Customers spent more this Christmas, and I guess this was because many of them didn’t get to go on holiday this year. We run a Christmas Club and we had more than 500 parcels put by. When customers came in to collect them, they were also adding to their purchases with extras.

Like many retailers, we did experience some issues with stock, but they were not as bad as I was expecting, and a lot of suppliers came through brilliantly. Some stock arrived very late, but hopefully that will go in January when people have Christmas money to spend.

I’m not sure what 2022 has in store for us. I am worried about price increases; any erosion to our margins will make it all the more difficult to compete with online sales, and I’m hoping that even if things do get worse with the pandemic that shops will be able to remain open. Although we are a department store, we were not deemed to be essential in previous lockdowns.

I’m looking forward to seeing all the new product next year, and especially to visiting the Toymaster show in Harrogate in May. We missed it last year, and it has been quite a challenge to do everything online and over the phone. It’s so much easier to have conversations face to face and to see all the new products in the flesh, so fingers crossed the show can go ahead.

John Testori - Bambola Toymaster, St Helier, Jersey

Our Christmas trade started off very positively before slowing down, however we did experience a final rush in the last week.

We did very well with Toniebox Starter Sets this year as well as the content Tonies to accompany them. Lego is a consistent seller year on year, and this Christmas we enjoyed particularly good sales on Lego Friends and Harry Potter. Pokémon has had a great year too and seems to be growing even more.

We are hoping that when we head into the second half of 2022, we will see a return to normality without the threat of lockdowns hanging over us. We begin 2022 with a positive outlook and belief that the local support we have received throughout the previous two years will continue. There has been a clear swing towards shopping locally over the pandemic, and the public have enjoyed it.

We are very much looking forward to attending London Toy Fair where it will be nice to see a wide range of new products in the flesh, as well as catch up with our suppliers and find new ranges for our stores. The Toymaster May Show is always really enjoyable, with a work hard, play hard mentality, and we will be very pleased to get back there too. The regional meeting at Swindon we attended recently was the first show we had been to in nearly two years, and we had a fantastic time. It was so great to see real people - and be able to view lots of products properly.

Ian Bailey - Bailey’s Toymaster, Gorey, Co Wexford

Christmas trade has been strong for us. A lot of people started their Christmas shopping early with many more highticket items than usual selling in September and October, and this carried through to November and December.

The Barbie range has been popular this Christmas, coming off the back of strong sales across the year. The brand is definitely back. Our younger customers are still very much into anything Paw Patrol, while the older ones can’t get enough of Pokémon. It goes without saying that Lego has continued to perform strongly for us this year, and our extensive range of farm toys always does well – especially the lines from Bruder. I’ve been delighted to see our customers’ overall spend being generous.

I am feeling positive for the year ahead, but I do think there’s a possibility that things could tighten in Q2 with the rising cost of living impacting disposable income and spending.

Hopefully the Toymaster Show will be back on track as it is our main show of the year. We’d like to be able travel to Nuremberg too, as we have a few gaps in suppliers since Brexit, particularly in the outdoor wheeled toys area, and there may be a few options there worth exploring.

Maggie Tibbenham - Imagine Toy Shop, Holmfirth

Christmas trading for us was very late for us this year, only really picking in mid-December which is not our usual pattern at all. Usually, we have our best month in November and are very busy, especially on big ticket items, but November was noticeably quieter, just like any other month really. Despite all the media scaremongering about a shortage of product and messages encouraging shopping early for Christmas, I think the public largely ignored the warnings that certain lines might be hard to find. Either that or they were buying bigger things online and only coming into the shop for smaller items.

One of our biggest sellers for 2021 was the Moon Lamp from The Source Wholesale. It changes colour when you tap it and has been an amazing line that seems to appeal to all ages. The Tonies Tonieboxes have also sold well, and we sold out well before Christmas. They are always popular as they make a really nice, special gift. All the little mid-priced, collectible dolls – especially ones in blind packaging or which have a surprise element - were also moving in large quantities in December, and we’ve been pleased with sales of puzzle-type games that seem quite a trend at the moment.

I am looking forward to seeing the new product ranges in 2022 but I have to say I am quite worried by all that is happening with Covid. Although I like to think it won’t happen, I am concerned that we might go into another lockdown in early January. For this reason, I have been quite restrained in my orders for the new year so far. Normally, I would be bringing in lots of new stock for January, but I have been very cautious. However, my shop is still well stocked, so I should be OK to carry on until at least February with the products I have now. I hope people will still have the confidence to continue to shop locally and not just click first.

Lisa Clay - Armadillo Toys, Leeds

We had a very busy Christmas, with high footfall throughout December. No one product really stood out as the ‘must have’ that everyone was asking for this year, but that meant sales were spread across the store. We were getting a lot of phone calls from people who couldn’t find what they wanted elsewhere as they were selling out. Fortunately, we had a lot of stock, which was good.

We had a lot of requests for the Melissa & Doug Super Smile Dentist Kit Play Set, and we eventually sold out of that, and Marvel Dobble from Asmodee has been hugely popular. Our Schleich range has also performed exceptionally well over Christmas, as it always does, but we could have sold even more, had we had the stock.

Games and jigsaws have also sold well, particularly all the Dobble sets and the University Games range - the What’s Up? Game, T Rex Game and Charades are always popular at Christmas.

I haven’t really had chance to see what is new for 2022 as I’ve been too focused on getting through Christmas. I’m looking forward to getting to grips with all the new releases in the new year. Everything does seem rather up in the air at the moment, and we don’t really know what will 2022 will hold. Inflation is a concern; everyone is putting prices up and people may be hit with big bills because they’ve been spending heavily this Christmas.

Overall, we have been doing very well, and we are very happy. But I never rest on my laurels and just hope that things turn out better than we fear they might.

indie viewpoint

Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes - Toy Barnhaus

Ring out the old, bring in the new

In this strange world, as we put together this column each month, whatever we write is often almost immediately out of date. We sit here just over a week from Christmas, and the Ghost of Christmas Present this year is Omicron! A few weeks ago, we had never heard of this word, and it could not have come at a worse time. It is difficult to say with any certainty what will happen, as there is so much unknown – by the time you read this hopefully things will be much clearer.

Reviewing the year up until now, we have been very pleased with how trade has been. It is very difficult to know what to compare to, as last year was very disrupted with the lockdowns, but to compare to two years ago, when we were not even aware of Covid, is equally difficult. Overall, we have taken that the view that as long as we are trading and taking reasonable money, we will be happy. November saw good sales overall, with Black Friday being strong. The early part of December has been a bit softer, but we think this is down to people having bought earlier this year, and also not wanting to come out when it gets busier. So far, we are happy with how Christmas has gone, especially given all the disruption to deliveries and items arriving late, even months late at times.

Bestsellers for us continue to be Pokémon Trading Cards, along with anything else Pokémon related – this really has been a stellar year for the brand. CoComelon has been hugely popular; everyone with very young children is asking for it. Also in the pre-school sector, Bluey has been in high demand. Lego of course continues to be very strong, trading well up year on year. We have noticed more sets being purchased for adults than ever before, which has increased sales even further in this already reliable category. After that, pocket money is our best performing category, and kids just can’t seem to get enough of anything squeezy or squishy – we have more squishy vegetables than a green grocer!

It will be great to see new products ‘in the flesh’ again, as it has been far too long. One of the hardest things this year has been ordering from a PowerPoint presentation. These presentations usually include a load of marketing information that is not too useful to us and makes the process rather long winded. Although we get to see the product too, it comes nowhere near replacing the experience of seeing, touching and interacting with a physical toy. It will be great to catch up in person with some suppliers we have not seen in person for a while, and also to see other retailers and people from the toy trade - including the Toy World team of course.

Looking at Q1, there is a lot that is still unknown, and plenty of headwinds. We have been relatively cautious when ordering stock for Q1 and have mainly been focusing on getting through the peak trading season first. Having said that, we have tried to be proactive in ordering some favourite ranges early before price rises kick in. We’re expecting increases from a lot of suppliers in the New Year, so we have been bringing several of our regular ranges in to try and mitigate this and hopefully maintain price points for our customers. In January, we will focus more on new ranges for Q1; it is always good to freshen up the store and give customers new reasons to come and visit in store. As for any independent store, the new 2022 launches for Lego will be key and will drive significant footfall in January. Kids having money to spend from Christmas, combined with the January weather, usually leads to strong weekend trade throughout the month.

Happy New Year to all, and hopefully see you at Toy Fair!