RETAIL ADVISORY BOARD
Pre-school nerves?
With the relationship between Mothercare and Early Learning Centre on the rocks, Robert Hutchins asks the ToyNews Retail Advisory Board how this has changed their own pre-school buying and how important the sector is to them
Brian Simpson, Manager, ToyTown “It hasn’t affected my
buying at all. I have huge respect for the Mothercare business model, we all know the importance of capturing our customers early so they stay with you. But, we are smaller High Street retailers, so we will continue to buy and trade as usual and if we see any uplift in our stores that happen to be located near a Mothercare, then all the better. “Last year saw another
huge array of pre-school licences introduced into the trade, and for us this kept the overall sales buoyant. But we would expect our unit sales to be the same, potentially with a slight decrease in value as we see a trend for kids ‘wanting to grow up too fast’ and playing with toys that possibly are not 100 per cent age appropriate. “But so far, the market is
working well for us. We would like to think that pre- school toys do better with independents. There is usually a lot of confusion on purchases for younger kids and that is where our customer service and knowledge on products sets us (the independent
www.toynews-online.biz
trade, not just ToyTown) apart from the grocers, etc.”
Helen Gourley, Owner, ToyHub “It hasn’t really had an impact on us. The local
Early Learning Centre had been showing signs of strain for sometime, so customers were already looking elsewhere. “We have noticed an
increase in second hand shops selling lightly used pre-school toys. A lot of kids that are pre-school age get bored with their toys quickly so parents are looking for great value and the ability to continually change the offering for their children. “We stick to our brands
like LEGO and Playmobil and bring their younger lines i.e. Duplo and Playmobil 1.2.3. and lead the children into the other ranges as they grow older. “With pre-school toys,
parents are looking for extra advice as to what educational and play value the toys they are buying have. That said, everyone seems to be on a tight budget at the moment and lots of parents love long established well made brands that they can pick up in a variety of places.”
Ian Edmunds, Operations Director, Toymaster “The Mothercare
and Early Learning Centre situation is a real pity. ELC over the years has been a real destination shop for pre- school toys. We occasionally have consumers coming to our shops asking for ELC toys. They see it as a brand. So it is certainly worth something to someone. But who’s going to buy it... God knows.
“In the last couple of
years, licensed pre-school toys have seen a struggle. This means that the generic, basic pre-school toys have sold better. However, Fisher-Price hasn’t been flying until last year, so there’s not really a lot out there and it’s very difficult to get the consumer interested. “Having said that, pre-
school is our biggest section. Because if you’re going to buy pre-school toys and you don’t know what to get, you need to ask somebody. That’s where ELC were really good. You feel safe asking them rather than some oik on the checkouts at your supermarket. “Why the ELC is struggling is easy to figure out. You put it in with
Mothercare and they don’t know what to do with it. It’s classic bad buying. There’s nothing wrong with ELC’s business if someone pays the right price for it. It would suit someone who would do it as standalone shops. If you just buy the brand and stick it in a supermarket, in three years time it’ll be nothing.”
Stuart Grant, Buying Director, The Entertainer “The Entertainer had another
really strong year and some of that is from growing our market share within infant and pre-school. Because the market is shrinking, and we’re growing, by definition we are stealing market share from other retailers. “Pre-school has always been an area that we have previously underperformed against our market share in. That’s mainly because we have had specialists in that category trading near
us. When you’re underperforming, it should be easy growth. It’s definitely a focus for us. “[There is a] really good
portfolio of pre-school brands that have just been launched that are doing really well such as Doc McStuffins, Sofia the First, Tree Fu Tom, Peppa Pigand Fireman Sam. Since its new launch with Golden Bear, In The Night Gardenis also doing really well.
“Consumers buying for
children of that age want to know that they are buying into a toy that is absolutely right for the child. That filters across to the retailers they choose. There is a big opportunity for specialists like Mothercare, ELC and Kiddicare to perform exceptionally well. I think that creates added competition for general toy retailers like us. Not being specialist in the category potentially creates a hurdle because the consumer is looking for that.”
RETAIL ADVISORY BOARD
Turn to page 47 to find out who’s part of our Retail Advisory Board. If you’re a toy retailer who’s interested in joining, please email
dominic.sacco@
intentmedia.co.uk
March 49
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