TNP T
LOOKS S BAC BACK
Step back in time TnP MD Malcolm Naish looks back at some of the events and news stories that made the pages back in July 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2010
AUGUST 2010
August 2010 Volume 29 Number 11
Toys n Playthings FC.indd 1
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• Very little of note seems to have occurred five years ago in the toy trade, but Toy Barnhaus open their third toy store in Epsom. Both Stephen Barnes and Mark Buschhaus are ex-Woolworths store managers. Their 13 years experience each at Woolies has stood them in good stead as today they are still going very strong. • Ian Chaplin leaves the toy trade at Argos and moves to trading manager for consumer electronics. • It seems a quiet time for ‘craze’ items with consumers buying more traditional toys and games during this summer period, but Wilton Bradley get a mention for their beach toys. • Schleich are celebrating their 75th year and are now available in over 50 countries. We congratulate them. • Mark Dixon leaves TK Max to conquer new horizons and an interesting report shows that 40% of Woolies stores are still empty with the other 60% being primarily occupied by pound shops and other bargain-based retailers.
AUGUST 2005 • Springwell Mouldings decide to cease manufacturing their range of buckets and spades in the UK but as MD Paul Hupfield tells me one of their oldest customers Palgrave will continue their manufacture in the UK where they are made to this day. • Tomy merge with Takara with Tomy remaining as the trading name. • I am sad to report the death of Lee Bowerbank. A larger than life six foot seven inch ace salesman with Matchbox and Mattel, among other toy manufacturers, plus being an extremely nice guy. • Quite a number of buyers with the ‘Majors’ are moving on. Wendy Munt leaves Argos to join Recreaton with Lynn Sherlock leaving Woolies to join Mothercare. • I’m delighted to note that Marcello Rossi and his family decide not to move to the States and he is now gainfully employed with Beales department stores. We all know of course that he now runs the ‘This is It’ variety store group.
AUGUST 1995 • The BTHA announce that in January they will run a dinner on the first night of the show to mark a Lifetime Achievement award – already a regular occurrence in the States. I ask whether anyone cares tuppence for such awards and at £150 per head for tickets, only the wealthiest companies will support such an event. Twenty years later and I’m obviously proved wrong! • Mattel allow a management buyout for their Corgi Toys division. Chris Guest leads the buyout that heralds a most successful debut for Corgi as an independently run company. Frank Martin takes over as MD at Humbrol following Mike Ganley’s resignation. • Gordon and Brenda Dobson – owners of Toytown, Leamington Spa – decide to close after 35 years. As agent John Nicholas stated: “We have lost a wonderful toyshop. Gordon was always prepared to look at a new line or range and his phrase, “we could try a few”, was music to many an agent or reps ears. An unrealistic landlord plus low margins forced the closure.
AUGUST 1985 • Stan Lockley retires from Fine Fare. A buyer of the old school, Stan never messed around, using his knowledge of product, the supplier plus ‘gut feel’ to chose the products. He had a great rapport with his suppliers and will be sorely missed. • Hornby are going great guns with their ‘Flower Fairies’. Nostalgia really pays off as ‘Flower Fairies’ were first introduced in the Twenties and had a great run in 1985 and beyond. • With Toys R Us about to open next month for the first time in the UK they promise 18,000 product lines involving over 500,000 actual products stocked in each store, 12 months of the year. I wonder what the numbers are today? • Our 1985 ‘Board Games’ feature is very well supported. Games companies that have survived to this day under their 1985 company name are few, but include James Galt, H.P. Gibsons, Hasbro, Paul Lamond and Orchard Toys whom I describe in 1985 as a ‘newcomer’ – they’ve certainly stood the test of time!
AUGUST 2015
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