In association with...
shoptalking
Gerard and Helen directors, Toy Hub We opened the business in April 2010. Basically,
Gez went to rent a DVD one night in January 2010 and found out that the shop owner was retiring and going to rent his shop out to a solicitor. We hated the idea of a shop being turned into an offi ce – just not what the local high street needed, so we decided that night to buy the business and run our existing IT business from there alongside renting DVDs. Our son asked us if we could also sell Club Penguin Cards and Gogo’s Crazy Bones, which were the huge craze at the time and not readily available in our local town – and we just thought, well why not? Overall business is good. We’ve had considerable growth over the past two years, now have some fantastic staff to support us, and plan to expand our business further in 2013. We have a regular following for pocket money and birthday presents, but still have to work hard to compete with online businesses for the larger sales, which bring in much better returns. We are confi dent that the decision to streamline our business and focus purely on the toy industry will work for us in the future. We also ensure that we work hard to engage with our customers. We have regular VIP shopping events and our Lego Minifi gure Swap box is perfect for our young customers, it helps avoid that disappointed look when they realise
Jennifer Vollebregt
Join a world of Blue Nose Adventures...
tattyteddytoys.com @CarteBlancheGrp
In our regular feature, Toy World’s Kayleigh Conway speaks to independent retailers about the hot topics of the month.
ToyWorld_TalkingShop_Header1 19/12/12 12:49:31 - 1 - (Process Magenta) Process Black) Process Cyan) Process Yellow) Onwards and upwards
This month, our experts tell Kayleigh how their Christmas sales have been going and what they are looking forward to seeing at Toy Fair 2013.
their hard-earned pocket money has got them the same fi gure they opened last week! 2012 has been a major year for us. We’ve taken on more staff, gone through marketing exercises which have given us the confi dence to rebrand, started selling more effectively online and are in the process of implementing a new EPOS system to allow us to manage our multi-channel business more effi ciently. Our rebranding has been pivotal to everything we’ve done this year. We worked with a marketing expert with experience in M&S and Sainsbury’s, as we knew we needed to get it right fi rst time. From the focus groups we have learned so much about what people want and need from us and are determined to put a structured business in place that will provide them with what they are asking for. What was fantastic about this exercise was hearing how much the local community wants us to succeed and the loyalty that we have built within our brand over the past two years – hence the name staying with the ‘hub’ reference, as this is how most of the kids refer to us. We believe our new name and logo will help us to position ourselves better in the marketplace. Our expertise goes a long way in the pocket money and birthday present ranges. What works so well is that we and all of our staff are parents. We work hard to listen to all our young customers and make sure we have their most- wanted products available to buy as they hit the shelves. Locally we are also known as the Lego
Cheeky, Playful, Affectionate and now Fully Interactive!
* Actual game footage
tattyteddytoys.com @CarteBlancheGrp
ToyWorld_TalkingShop_Strip Visit us at stand B130, The Toy Fair, London Olympia 22nd 19/12/12 13:10:17 - 1 - (Process Magenta) ocess Black) ocess Cyan) ocess Yellow) - 24th January 2013 Toyworld 43
experts, so the constraints around Lego Friends, multiple-retailer exclusives and early releases with grocers have been particularly frustrating this year – however with Andy Murray coming from the town, the Lego Olympic Minifi gures, and the extra footfall from the gold postbox, were a huge success this year. We’ve also started dabbling in more niche
ranges such as Minecraft and Wrestling ranges, which have been great for margin, albeit at a bit of a risk. It would be fabulous if Lego opened up their Architecture and Minecraft ranges, as we (and several other independent toy stores) requested at the last Lego Indie Get-together in August. These are two ranges that the independents could really get their teeth into that would give us a genuine edge over some of the larger multiple retailers. We have always gone to the London Toy Fair, which we have enjoyed. However, as a small
Includes Free App & 16 Movement Combinations
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