Jon Starling
Starlings Toymaster, Norfolk/Suffolf Business is going okay; April was a tough month, but the figures for March were good. We’re doing really well on art and craft; the last few months in particular have been very good. We do a lot of John Adams and that does very well for us, and Depesche’s Top Model range is really strong. Wooky’s Style-Me- Up range has also been really popular with girls lately. People have been driven indoors by the cold weather, so this category has been doing really well from that. We stock VTech under our electronic learning offering; we went back to basics at the start of the year for nursery electronics and that seems to be working well. Sales are on the up, so that’s positive; we’ve been driving promotions recently which has helped us to double our business. We’re struggling with boys’ action figures, which NPD figures have mirrored; there’s nothing collectable out there for boys right now. Wheeled toys have picked up in the last few weeks with the sun coming out; it’s a small increase and it’s still very cold, but tractor-trailer ride-ons, scooters and trikes are on the up. Outdoor sales are generally very slow – we’ve only sold one paddling pool so far, and I’m pretty sure that was for someone’s fish! Science and nature has been okay, it’s ticking along but nothing much. We do better on girls and prams, and there’s been an increase in Barbie which is nice. Games are doing well from our promos and Toymaster promotions driving sales. Generally pre-school is flying out the door, as is art and craft, whereas construction is flat and mini- figures are way down; it’s difficult this year, so fingers crossed things pick up after the Toymaster show!
If you would like to get involved
with next month’s Talking Shop, please get in touch with Kayleigh: 01442 840 306, @KayleighConners
kayleigh@toyworldmag.co.uk
The independent voice...
viewpoint Indie
Diving into Summer H
i all. As we write this article,
our bags are packed and the diary is booked (must not forget the paracetamol), as we head up to the Toymaster show. More than any other year we have done a lot of preparation in advance, and we will be doing more buying for Christmas than ever before. There are so many great deals there, and we will be taking advantage of as many of them as possible. Trade for the past month has been mixed, with April starting well due to the timing of the Easter holidays. However, the end of the month proved quite a challenge. I know we often mention the weather, but the glorious May Day bank holiday certainly kept people away from our shops. Things have picked up since though, and with the earlier half-term holiday on the horizon we are optimistic for the rest of May. With the improvement in the weather, we are seeing a big uplift in Outdoor
Mark Buschhaus and Stephen Barnes, Toy Barnhaus
Toys, and Wheeled Toys in particular. Scooters, sit-ons and trikes are very strong performers for us, with the ranges from Halsall and MV Sports being particularly well received for their price and key licences. For the older kids, the Stunted XT scooter with the aluminium core wheels is a hit with our customers, and so are our other two-wheeled scooters. One range we are going to be investigating at the Toymaster show is the Kiddimoto balance bikes, and we will be putting in our entries to win the free stock. For when the inevitable British Summer weather arrives, the ever growing
category for us will be Art and Craft. A bestseller for us currently is Top Model from Depesche. It seems to sell across all price points, and having had it for a year now we are still seeing good growth. Core evergreen bestsellers for us include Play Doh, Plasticine and Hama Beads. Craft products are very popular as birthday presents so any items priced at around £5 are key, with both Galt and John Adams providing great ranges for this. Also, with the half-term holiday fast approaching, we always look out for any items we can promote in Art and Craft. Looking forwards, we were at a Flair preview last month and there are some great creative products coming later this year. From our days in Woolies, anything for kids outdoors in the garden was very popular, and a range that has worked very well so far this year is Insect Lore. The company’s Butterfl y Garden has been very popular, with them literally fl ying out the door (Groan! – Ed.). The bug magnifi ers and glasses are also good performers with great price points. For indoor science, the Wild Science range from Interplay is great, with the Perfume Laboratory and Bath Bomb Factory being among the more popular lines. Coming out of Toy Fair we were very impressed with VTech’s range for 2013,
particularly at price points under £20. And so far in 2013 this has been refl ected in our sales of electronic learning. Even at the higher price point the Innotab continues to sell well, and the new outdoor learning range has also been very well received. LeapFrog is also strong in this category, with any line under £20 being popular, including the Lettersaurus, and My First Leaptop. With this category we are spending a lot of time planning our seasonal orders, as this area is absolutely massive for us at Christmas. Time for us to leave for Harrogate now, and we will hopefully have had a few
drinks with the Toy World team by the time you read this. Happy selling.
Toyworld 31
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96