from the I
n some respects, this is one of the trickier Leader columns of the year to write. Poised at my keyboard a mere 40 hours before Christmas Day, all everyone wants to know at
the moment is how festive trading is faring. And unfortunately the simple answer is “I don’t know”. Partly that’s because we’ve all had our heads down for weeks, making sure the bumper issue you now hold in your hand is finalised and delivered to the printer on time (which is no mean feat, I can assure you). And partly it’s because it gets harder every year to ‘call’ how well Christmas has gone until the final whistle blows; and that moment is still a day and a half away. Indeed, the last few days’ trading have become integral to the success of the whole period for many retailers: one independent toy retailer texted me at 9pm last Friday evening (while I was sat on my sofa drinking a glass of wine) to tell me he still had a store full of customers. Retailers have inevitably been making sure they
wring every last drop from festive sales. Westfield Shopping Centre announced that it would be staying open until midnight on the Monday before Christmas, but even that couldn’t top Toys R Us in the States, which opened for 87 hours straight in the run-up to Christmas (from 6am Saturday until 9pm Christmas Eve). Ultimately, it’s all about being flexible and resourceful, going the extra mile and making a difference. ‘Going the extra mile’ is a trait which came
over loud and clear during the judging for this year’s Toy Retailer of the Year awards. Personally I thought the standard of nominations and submissions was higher than ever this year, and some very worthy winners will be unveiled at the Awards night on 21st January. What particularly impressed me was the variety of added value services which independent retailers offer to customers to give themselves a point of difference: character costume appearances, demonstrations, in-store birthday parties, gift vouchers, dedicated
publisher John Baulch - @Baulchtweet
craft areas, toy giveaways in conjunction with local press, free assembly, free home delivery... there were so many examples to chose from. But interestingly what united every independent retailer’s submission was the phrase ‘unrivalled breadth of knowledge’. This, unsurprisingly, has become the independent’s ‘weapon of choice’ against the majors. And if knowledge really is power, then the best place to start the New Year is at one or more of the forthcoming Toy Fairs. The shows provide the perfect opportunity to view the new products which are being released for 2014, swap opinion and gossip with industry peers, and hopefully find a few new suppliers and ranges to tempt your customers with. First up is Toy Fair at Olympia, an event I have previously described as possibly the three most valuable working days of the year for the Toy World team. Toy World will once again be exhibiting, having moved to a larger stand within the Green House section (GH37), which is situated right in the middle of the ground floor – at the heart of the show, placing Toy World at the very heart of the toy industry (which is exactly where we see ourselves). Before you head off to ‘the smoke’, you have this substantial 250-page Toy Fair Preview edition to wade through to help you maximise your trip; I hope it will give you plenty of pointers as to what to look out for at the show. It is the single largest issue that we have ever published, so I’m sure there is a wealth of information here to whet your appetite for what lies ahead. Our exhaustive guide to Toy Fair starts on page 107, and this seems like as good a place as any to start building up your invaluable knowledge bank. This issue also includes a comprehensive
round-up of the major character licences for 2013, starting on page 67 – we’ve called the feature ‘Hot Properties’, and it’s where we have chosen to highlight the key licences which will be driving the kids’ market in 2014. So whether you’re a retailer deciding which properties to invest in, or a licensee looking to bolster your portfolio, our selection of the hottest properties around will certainly give you lots to consider. Next stop for Team Toy World is Nuremberg, where the world’s largest Toy Fair awaits. It will
be cold, we will walk for miles and miles and we will eat far too much pork-based produce, but it will undoubtedly be a hugely worthwhile trip and immense fun. Finally, we’ll be heading to Birmingham for the
Spring Fair. Along with this issue, you will also find a special pull-out supplement devoted to Spring Fair, highlighting a selection of the new toy lines being unveiled at the show. Many of the mainstream toy companies don’t exhibit at the Spring Fair, but the event still represents a good opportunity for retailers who are looking to source children’s gift lines which offer a point of difference (that phrase again...). It also provides an opportunity for toy suppliers to reach retail buyers from alternative channels who would not necessarily attend mainstream toy shows. If you’d like to meet up with me, or indeed any
of the Toy World team, at this year’s events, feel free to drop us an email or give us a call. We want to see which new products you are excited about for the coming year, so we can tell our readers all about them. And we want to tell you about our plans for the year: for example, this issue sees the introduction of a brand new regular section, Infant & Pre-School World, which will enable us to bring you the very latest developments from the industry’s largest super-category every month. There are a number of other exciting new initiatives in the pipeline too, and we look forward to sharing those with you over the coming weeks. We’ll be back in the first week of March with an issue which will round up our experiences from each of the major Toy Fairs. In the meantime, you can log on to our website –
www.toyworldmag.
co.uk – for daily news updates over the whole of Toy Fair season. To finish, I wanted to share something which made me feel we’re on the right track with Toy World. One of our customers recently told me: “We see you as part of our team rather than someone who sells us ads.” In all honesty, I don’t think anyone could have paid me a better compliment: that is exactly what we are aiming for here at Toy World. Here’s to a hugely successful 2014 for the whole of the toy trade, and we look forward to seeing you wherever you may roam over the coming weeks.
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