Fleurtations, Nottinghamshire
Graeme Wiser We love going around toy industry trade shows; we found Jellycat, Snoopy and Paddington in this way. You can actually see and feel the products, which is a huge advantage over the web, or a rep calling with samples. Usually the full catalogue is on offer, and the whole effect is more immediate. Long live the trade shows.
Petalina, Surrey
Cate O’Neil Trade shows are incredibly important. You can source more unusual products which add exclusivity and interest to your business. Seeing the products is important because their quality is clear. Sometimes products look great in a catalogue but are disappointing in the fl esh, so it’s best to see examples before spending. I also think it is a useful time to meet the suppliers so that they have a face to go with the business name. The suppliers who know me look after me really well.
The Fluffy Box Company, North Yorkshire
Lawrence Walker Toy industry trade shows allow us to view and test new to market products. Glossy brochures don’t always do products justice, especially with interactive toys becoming top sellers for Christmas 2012.
Toy Hub Direct, Stirling
Helen Gourley It’s great to see toys practically demonstrated, but they will never replace the importance of a good rep who looks after their customers. Suppliers have to have great websites, great customer services and the back-up throughout the year to help us make buying decisions year-round.
Toytown, East Sussex
Daeron McGee Not only are they important for us making our selections, they are also the best opportunity to give feedback directly to the manufacturers/ distributors, often before they’ve made their fi nal purchasing decisions. As they rely on us to present their products to the consumers, I believe this feedback can be very useful.
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ecember greetings to you all. It is our favourite time of year, and doesn’t it come around quicker every year? Thanks for all the comments on the last issue, the Santa outfi ts fi t fi ne and still with some room to breathe. Back to business. November’s trade has started okay, but has not set the world alight. We are still playing catch up after the half-term break being a week later this year, which has put everyone’s buying back
by a week. The Toymaster sale, which has just launched, has refreshed our stores nicely, and has given a good-value message to help counteract all the other promotions in the marketplace at the moment. There have been some great products in the sale this year, thanks to Paul and the Toymaster team. November is a great time to start planning the diary for next year, before it gets too
busy. We are starting to put in appointments for Toy Fair and for promotional activity next year; how organised are we? Also, it is time to start planning what to buy each other for Christmas. Each year, we each end up with a product that simply did not sell, and blame the other for buying it. On a positive note, our ‘Shard’ of advent calendars is coming down; it’s at 15 fl oors now, so fi ngers crossed that by the time you read this it will have completely gone. To replace this, our towers of games are now exceeding the advent calendars in our stockrooms as there have been some great supplier-funded promotions on games this year. With the peak on games sales to come in the last few we eks, the early winners so far are Hungry Hippos, Monopoly Millionaire and Doggie Doo to name but a few. On the Boys category, the early signs are that Skylander Giants will be bigger than
last year’s Skylander, with the good news being that stocks are a lot better. Other than this, there is no stand-out line, with Nerf, Transformers and WWE all selling well, but nothing fl ying. However, on girls an early standout is the return of Furby, although as usual some retailers are doing silly things on price, despite the limited stock. We are having no problem selling them at the SRP. Also doing well is the new Baby Annabell doll, and Barbie continues to be very strong. Monster High is proving to be a winner, with signifi cantly more stock than last year, and Venus McFlytrap is proving particularly popular. Moving onto Pre-School now, the key licences are the sales drivers, including Fireman
Sam, Mike the Knight, and Octonauts. The new LeapPad and Innotab are generating a lot of interest, and the lower-priced lines from VTech and Leapfrog continue to go from strength to strength. Lego continues to perform well for us, with all ranges selling through. Availability is holding up well, and we are all getting our pointy hats out in excitement about the Hobbit Lego arriving this month. Finally, a quick mention for Playmobil, with the two standouts being the Pirate Ship and the Western Set. With all these great products, here’s to a great December.
Looking ahead, with toy previews all over now, there are some great lines to anticipate for next year, so Toy Fair is a must in January. We are both pleased to announce that the Barnhaus prize for supplier lunch goes to Mattel, with prawn cocktail starter and potato wedges. Yum yum. I wonder why we spent so much? We must be
off now, so here’s to a successful Christmas trading period and a Happy New Year to you all.
Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes, Toy Barnhaus
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