INDIE RETAILER FOCUS 39 Talking Shop: The Toy Parade
The Toy Parade is a small local independent in Glasgow which specialises in a variety of traditional toys that help children learn important developmental skills. Lewis Tyler speaks to director and industry newcomer Jen Todd
What’s your background? Have you always been in retail? I previously worked in the financial sector as a regulatory consultant. I got made redundant in 2009 and decided that I wanted to set up a business and work for myself.
So, why toys?
I wanted to try something completely different to the financial business environment, something with a bit more fun. The idea for the toy shop came about when I noticed a gap in the market for getting hold of traditional and quality learning toys for my own children. The local area of East Renfrewshire has some of the top performing schools in Scotland and therefore the demographic of the area is a lot of young families with parents and grandparents.
Was it daunting going into a completely unfamiliar industry? Prior to setting up the business, I researched the market for nearly a year, reading up on toy research publications, visiting toy fairs such as the International Toy Fair in Nürnberg, and meeting up with toy company representatives. I launched the shop in November 2010 and am currently getting ready for the launch of our e- commerce site.
What do you look for when selecting new lines? We look for toys which have exceptional benefits in learning and development, traditional toys which encourage imaginative play and those which will stand the test of time – particularly those toys which have exceptional play value and which can be passed on to siblings and subsequent generations. Finally, we look for toys which are environmentally friendly in some way, for example those made from sustainable materials or do not require batteries.
Did all of the things you learnt during your research work? What
The Toy Parade has been open for two years now and aims to set itself apart from bigger national retailers by stocking unique toys and quality educational products
have you learned about toys and toy retail since launching in 2010? I have learnt that in the toy industry it is increasingly difficult for smaller independents to compete against the larger nationals, especially when the supermarkets are diversifying more into different areas such as toys. We try to stay away from most of the brands which the supermarkets stock, because as an independent you aim to offer unique, different and individually sourced quality products. Also, in the current economic climate, margins have reduced and therefore we have to ensure that we are getting the best deal possible from suppliers, and therefore continually keep our suppliers under review.
What’s your approach to toy retail? As a small independent we are able to provide a more personal service to customers. We have a lot of grandparents and older generation buying gifts for children, whom are unsure what appropriate gifts are for children, and here we can provide
advice to these customers on suitability of toys for a specific age or educational requirement. Other services we provide are assembling larger toys or play-sets upon request, sourcing specific products customers asked for, which are not in stock, and also local delivery of items purchased at a convenient time.
How do you set out your store? Inside our shop we always ensure there are products out to entertain the children. Currently we have a BigJigs train table which is a huge hit with the younger customers and keeps them amused whilst the parents are browsing. With it being a small store, the parents do not have to worry about the children wandering off and this enables parents and kids to browse freely.
Do you have a natural footfall or do you need to work at it? We are not situated in a town centre and do not have a very high footfall
in the local area, therefore we do a lot of targeted advertising in family orientated publications, schools, children’s sports clubs, etc. However, we do find that people travel quite a distance to visit us, so our advertising covers quite a wide area.
You said there is a website on the way – what are your plans for that? Our website is initially an additional distribution channel for the shop. Some of our customers who come from further afield have requested this service and so it seems like a logical progression. Of course there is a lot of competition online, but we will extend our retail philosophy of exceptional customer service to the website and add value to customers experience in this way. We also have further expansion plans in place which we will implement. We plan to provide a service to nurseries and after school clubs in order to supplement our marketing in an innovative way. Contact: 0141 237 4748