248 TOYTALK
It was sad to see that TP Activity Toys was one supplier casualty in December. More to follow this year? You would hope not.
OBSERVATIONS OF A TOY INDUSTRY SURVIVOR Jon Salisbury
This column was penned in early December and I haven’t got a crystal ball, so the final outcome of Xmas 2011 is still a mystery to me. But it doesn’t stop any of us making an educated guess about what the future might hold...
THIS YEAR, it’s difficult not to have your vision clouded by macro economic factors. Chancellor George Osborne did his best to curb our enthusiasm with his autumn statement, while Mervyn King followed that with stern words about the worsening Eurozone crisis (just “five days to save it” as I write this). What about toy industry doyens? Were their tarot cards and psychic powers telling them anything about what to expect in the year ahead? “It is almost impossible to make sensible predictions as we are all in uncharted waters,” said Flair’s Peter Brown. “But rebuilding consumer confidence is the first step to creating a more favourable retail landscape and that requires a political solution which so far seems slow in coming but which most certainly will eventually happen.”
Back in December Roger Dyson at Toymaster said that “2011 will have been a
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better year for our industry than I expected considering the doom and gloom this time last year when many of us were under a couple of feet of snow. Providing that the last two or so weeks of trading holds up, then we appear to have got off lightly.
“I look forward to 2012 with more than a little caution, we are all being squeezed with higher taxation in its many forms, salary increases that will be lower than inflation, and consequently a difficult environment for retail. On the bright side, we have seen some exceptional innovation in the toy industry this year and there is an array of excellent new products for 2012.” Vivid’s Nick Austin added: “I really hope the Eurozone crisis doesn’t wash over into the UK and cause another credit crunch in spring. Our consumers are spooked enough as it is.” Martin Grossman of H Grossman & Son said: “2012 is a year of holding your own in
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the marketplace. I hope we see all our retailers still in business in 12 months time because another year of tough trading could bring casualties.”
It was sad to see that TP Activity Toys was one supplier casualty in December. More to follow this year? You would hope not. Vivid’s Austin concluded: “The Chancellor succeeded in dampening my Moshi-enhanced happy mood. But having survived three recessions in my career, I’m sure we’ll just ‘keep buggering on,’ as Churchill once said.” So, we’ll be fighting them on the beaches in 2012 ...
Jon Salisbury has written about the business of toys since 1985 and also runs toy conferences and media events in New York and London. He can be contacted on
jon@wotkidzwant.com or @JonSalisbury
www.wotkidzwant.com
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