We’re going to need a bigger stockroom…

SSales over the last few weeks have continued to be very encouraging, with all the bank holidays and teachers’ strikes helping to drive footfall to stores. This was on top of a strong Easter holiday period. We celebrated the Coronation by closing all our stores for the morning to allow our colleagues to watch it. This was the right decision, as there was minimal footfall in the morning, but the afternoon was steady when we opened. We more than made up for it in the days before and on the extra bank holiday.

We’re halfway through May now, and the figures are looking good. A big driver of sales this month has been Lego Disney 100 Minifigures, which has been our best ever launch. Disney products have seen an uplift thanks to the marketing around the Disney centenary; the Lego Disney Up House continues to sell well, as well as Disney plush. We’ve previously highlighted that anything Stitch-related has been popular over the past year, and we’ve recently taken delivery of Stitch Squishmallows, which has only added to these sales.

This year is notable for the number of major blockbuster films coming out that should drive sales of related products, and it’s great to see the return of this type of sales. The Super Mario Movie was very popular, and we have the release of The Little Mermaid, Fast X and Transformers: Rise of the Beasts over the next month to look forward to, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and Trolls Band Together coming later too – there is lots to get excited about.

It does feel like everything is virtually back to normal after the pandemic now; we finally removed the customer screens at the tills recently, the last change in our stores.

We are writing this as we travel back from Harrogate after another great Toymaster show. It always seems to go by so quickly, but once again, we can say that it was a resounding success. As usual, it seemed like the toy trade had taken over Harrogate, as well as the Majestic Hotel. The weather was kind, with plenty of sunshine, but at a temperature that meant it was still pleasant in the marquees, and there was a good buzz about the show. Last year, there was a sense of euphoria at being back for the first time in three years, but this time it felt like everything was back to normal and it was back down to business with a vengeance.

All credit to Yogi and the team for organizing a fantastic show, and for some great evening entertainment - a highlight for us was the gospel choir which performed on the Wednesday evening. The Majestic has also been improved massively by its refurbishment; it really is a great place to do business – albeit a lot of that took place at the bar! It was great to catch up with so many other members and suppliers over a few drinks.

It was an intense few days, but well worth it. I’m afraid we’re both getting a bit older now though, so came away looking forward to an early night.

There were some fantastic deals to be had at the show – but we don’t want to know what we spent! We found lots of good clearance lines this year, and some great offers for Christmas –more so than last year, when there were still supply issues. We also found more exciting new products, and picked up some new accounts, including Mood Bears, after the company’s success on Dragons Den. It was encouraging to see some suppliers bringing prices down, reflecting the reduction in shipping costs. We found some excellent new pocket money products from One for Fun, and some strong lines from MGA for the second half of the year. All we have to work out now is where we will put all this stock when it arrives…