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Character Group back in the black
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www.toyworldmag.co.uk from the editor
The company stated that trading in the six months ending August 31 had been satisfactory, and the loss it reported in the first half of the year had been reversed. This was driven by growing overseas sales, the company said, adding that with “the group’s forecast sales remaining on track for the 2013 calendar year, this should lead to a substantially better result for the 2014 financial year”. Shares in Character Group have recently risen more than 6% to 146.9p.
Continued expansion delivers strong results for Hamleys
Tom Roberts @tomtoyworld
Here we are at the start of the final quarter, and as this is the season to be trading (fa-la-la-la-la), it prompted me to make the trek to the front lines of the toy trade – the high street retailers themselves – to see how their preparations for Q4 were progressing. Speaking to retailers I was pleased to hear that they’re starting to get busier already. In my local area, I’m very lucky to be able to have a range of different types
Hamleys has announced its results to the end of December 2012 and a trading update for the 36 week period to 7th September 2013. EBITDA for the 12 months to December 2012 grew by 12% to £7.2m. Gross
sales from all Hamleys stores globally were up 18% to £94m. The company opened nine new stores in the year, including its first in Russia, Sweden and Saudi Arabia. In 2013 to date, Hamleys has opened a further six stores in Denmark, Sweden,
Saudi Arabia and India and its first store in Norway opens next week. For the 36 weeks to 7th September 2013, LFL sales in the UK and Ireland and
internationally are both up by over 10%. Total international sales, including new store openings are up 57%.
Home Retail Group chief executive to step down by next July
of toy retail outlets available to visit, from a small-town toy shop and a town- centre outlet, through to the multiples, although inevitably the latter are always more reluctant to divulge the really juicy information. With the independents, there was a near universal acknowledgement that
Home Retail Group, the owner of Argos, has announced that chief executive Terry Duddy will step down by July 2014. Mr Duddy was first appointed chief executive of Argos Retail Group in 2000, and went on to lead the firm when it was renamed Home Retail Group in 2006. Under his leadership the company has expanded, buying 27 stores from Focus DIY is 2007 and acquired the UK arm of the Habitat brand in 2011. The company also owns the Homebase chain of home improvement stores. John Coombe, chairman of Home Retail Group, said: “Terry is one of the longest serving chief executives in the industry, and he has provided strong leadership during one of the toughest periods of economic uncertainty faced by the business.” Mr Coombe will lead the effort to find a replacement.
the Summer holidays mark a shift in purchasing habits. Parents tend to buy larger outdoor toys at the start with the aim of keeping the kids entertained when the weather is kind. Activity books, arts, crafts and science kits flew off the shelves for use on holiday and during the inclement spells. Playground craze items inevitably took a small dip in sales only to rise again once the kids began to return to school. With the Summer over, the retailers I spoke to said they have started expanding their most reliable sectors such as construction toys, games and puzzles (the fastest-growing category of 2013 so far) and collectables, and also increasing the size of their pocket money sections in anticipation of Christmas stocking runs by parents. For example, Toy Barnhaus’ Stephen Barnes said their entire section of games and puzzles simply gets lifted from the back of the store and placed front and centre at this time of year. As an interesting aside, activity books appear to be becoming a key part of many pre-Christmas expansions because they make good stocking fillers and keep kids occupied. For one retailer in particular, a small-town independent, activity books have apparently proved themselves a year-round, best-selling item.
While speaking to the manager of my local toy shop, she told me that from
August to September there’s rarely a day that goes by without new stock being delivered. She said that brand new ranges get pride of place (and are watched carefully for how quickly they move), and slow-selling lines either get shifted to lower shelves in the hope that impulse purchases will clear them out before they have to be put in a bargain bin, or removed completely. The consistent performers – jigsaw puzzles and model kits – get topped up every day, while their overall presence in the shop remains of the same size and in prime positions.
As with most processes, I was told that preparing for Q4 at retail is always
different each year. But, a retailer’s local customers will still be coming in every week, and catering for them is vital. This is the classic balancing act when approaching Q4 at retail: make sure the heavy year-end footfall of regulars and impulse purchasers is catered for, and try to predict and stock up on several of the hotly tipped products. But, even at this late stage of the year, it’s still not easy to call that one with any degree of certainty. Perhaps it’s this unpredictability which helps to make the toy trade such a fascinating industry in which to work.
@toyworldmag
12 Toyworld
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