"The show is a great way for us to catch up with all the Toymaster members and showcase our fantastic range of products." Paul Dean, Senior Manager, Sales, Mattel
SPECIAL 39
Group love
Ciaran Burns, Managing Director C and H Burns, Northern Ireland “We go to the show for the full duration and one of the things we always try and get out of it is additional value – there’s always a better deal at Toymaster. With a wee bit of to and fro-ing there’s a tweak to every deal. By the end of the show it’s a very profitable experience. The social element is second to none. The shows in the evenings are exquisite – in terms of the food, entertainment and the wine/beer – it’s not to be missed. One of the key strategies that
Toymaster has for the ordinary member like myself is the FOB indent. It’s been absolutely key for us to be able to put together a well-licensed FOB product alongside our domestic ranges with a decent margin.”
John Testori, Owner,
Bambola Toy Shops, Jersey I doubt a lot of us would be here today without Toymaster – we
get fantastic support from the Northampton boys and they bend over backwards to help you. In particular, the FOB programmes for this autumn/winter are fantastic. I took quite a late decision on the catalogues – I haven’t done one in a while – but with The Entertainer coming to my town, it seemed this might be an opportune time. We
asked to put 40,000 brochures out and Toymaster made it happen. The May show is such an important fixture now. It’s perfectly timed for our Christmas catalogue listings and they do it fantastically. To those who are on the fence – what are you waiting for? Stop getting splinters up your arse and join. We’ve been a member for 20 years and it’s best thing we ever did.”
George Duncan, Owner,
Junners of Elgin, Backie and Inverness, Scotland “Toymaster is vital to our business.
The buying power, the credit facilities and more importantly, the access to information, is all vital.
Through the website we can check and see what’s selling and we get an idea of what sort of margin we should be achieving overall – which if you’re not in a buying group must be extremely difficult.
They are there to help with knowledge and advice. Through the brand enhancement scheme we have improved the software, used it for advertising, signage, decorating the shops and staff uniforms. You can get almost 50 per cent of your fees back. The show in May is the highlight of my year. We go to London every year to look – we go to Toymaster to order. It’s brilliant and the social side of it is even better.”
Toymaster indies tell Lewis Tyler how being a member of the group helps them, before Katie Roberts runs through what suppliers will have on offer at The Majestic…
Stephen Harlfield, Owner, Kids Stuff, Uckfield “The Toymaster show is an important event for us as we place 70 to 80 per cent of our orders there for the year. We take advantage of deals that are on offer to increase our margin, and we get to network with other retailers catch up on toy news and maybe get a drink out of an agent or supplier. We attend two shows without fail each year – Toy Fair and Toymaster. Toymaster is the most important as this is where we do most of our buying for the Christmas season. We receive excellent marketing with two catalogues and monthly window features, all of which we could not manage or afford if we were running as a true independent.”
Sonia Raghvani, Owner, Toy Shop London, Middlesex
“Being a member is very good for us because the
invoicing system Toymaster has, and the terms we get, allow us to get better deals on stock.
The show is an opportunity to get good deals for Christmas, and the catalogue, and you get all the suppliers under one roof. We’ll be looking to pick up some bargains. You can do all your ordering as everything is in the catalogue, so you’re not having to think about what to put in yours – it has all been done for you.”
Steve Kerrison, Buyer Kerrison Toys, Norwich “There are a lot of benefits that come with being in Toymaster.
Obviously the FOB programme is very important because it offers a different range to what we can get hold of and also some good margins. The show is a good chance to see some finished product that was in prototype at Toy Fair. Innotab is a good example of this – when we heard about it at the start of 2011 no one really knew what it was. We probably wouldn’t have seen it until it was delivered from VTech towards the end of the year – but because it was at Toymaster we were able to see the product and order accordingly.”
Nigel Kemp, Managing Director, Halesworth Toys and The Toy Box, Suffolk “Toymaster provides me with a chance to see all my suppliers in one space, in a relaxed atmosphere and do all the necessary ordering at one time. I can also look at any suppliers I don’t currently deal with and see products in the flesh. I’ll be keeping an eye on new tablet computers being launched and anything app-related.
As a member we can benefit from preferential supplier terms, order a range of FOB products with excellent margins, have access to marketing material, legal advice and window displays. The brand enhancement, which we receive once a year, is also very welcome as a way of updating the shop, equipment and so on.”
MAY 2012
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