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Alan Caswell
owner, The Arcade Toyshop, Dudley Anything reduced has sold well this year; if it’s not reduced or on a BOGOF offer then it’s a very tough line to sell. A great line I think is Tamagotchi, we’ve only just put them out on the shelf and two have flown out the door already. I’ve certainly got room for new lines, we’re a speciality shop by our own right and a real money-spinner for Christmas, particular right at the backend, has been Minecraft - it’s been absolutely amazing. I think a shortage of product and the demand for it will see Minecraft through January - I can’t see why not. We’ve had a good run this year, we’re not up on last year, but our whole town has been very hard hit as internet shopping continues to rise. I’ll be going to the London and Birmingham shows this year. I’m going to go back to traditional types of stock and lines that aren’t hype-marketed. So I’ll be on the lookout for niche products that I like myself that also give a better profit margin, I’ll be looking carefully at the economics of it. I’m expecting traditional pocket money lines to continue doing very well into Q1, and as for me I’m going to take it the easiest I ever have. I’ll be buying with my eyes, not with my wallet, and most of all I’ll be looking for something different. I find that Spring Fair is better for a more diverse product range with more innovations coming through each year, and I find that a lot of what’s on offer there has more appeal for me.
Clair Letton owner, Wigwam Toys, Brighton
Certainly for us in the last quarter Lottie has been doing very well, it’s been a really successful line and there’s a real gap in the market for it. I see my daughter and her friends playing with Lottie and they can relate to her, and I know from the local parents who come into the shop that they really want these dolls for their children. They’ve had fantastic reception in the media, so a lot of people come in to buy them. I think Lottie will continue to do well through into 2014 with the second wave coming out; the range is really popular in Canada, and the characters of pirate queen, footballer and karate look great. Other lines that have done really well for us this year are pocket money toys, anything sub-£10-15 does well all year round. Skwooshi has been fantastic, I really love it and it’s done very well for us. Stickers and crafts have been going very well, and things like that which trickle all through the year. Peaks for us included Lottie when we got the dolls in September, and Skwooshi when it came out in the Summer. As we’ve approached Christmas the focus has shifted more toward lines like Schleich with its fairytale range; I was looking through the new catalogue for next year and my daughter was practically hyperventilating, so I think that’s going to be a very popular addition. And we’ve also been doing well with all the advent calendars as you’d expect. It feels like everything happens in
46 Toyworld
January! I’ll be going to Toy Fair and Top Drawer, though arranging childcare is going to make it very interesting, so fingers crossed we make it there. I’ll be looking to fill the gaps in our offering, we’ve
only been
open since the end of April so there are things we’ve not found yet, and I won’t fill those gaps until I find the right thing. So I’ll be looking for things like kids’ dining accessories and lunchboxes, I’ve just found an eco range of cutlery for picnics which is fantastic and I’ll be hoping to find more interesting and innovative products like that. I’ll also be looking out for more cars and science kits for older kids, and more complicated construction sets. I’ll also be aiming to extend what we call our ‘grey gift’ area, as in crossover gifts that aren’t necessarily toys that you could give to an 11-year-old, an 18-year-old or even a
40-year-old; I’ve got a range of Egglings, which are ceramic eggs that you crack open and plant seeds in, that my daughter loves and I’ve just given one as a gift to an adult, too.
After Christmas it’ll all be a new
experience for us, so it’s difficult to guess what will happen. We’ll be expecting to see kids coming in with their Christmas money to buy things like Sylvanian Families to add to what they’ve been given for Christmas, and Playmobil. So I think that all those pocket money lines that are affordable to children will do well, and other things at the lower end of the price range like sticker sheets for rewards.
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