10 minute read
Retail Interview - with US retailer Michael Olafsson owner of Monkey Fish
Michael Olafsson, co-founder of Monkey Fish Toys, shares his experience of the Stateside toy retail scene from his store in Philadephia
What’s your career background?
My 30 year-plus journey has included sales, product development, business development and retail store development with major brands including ExxonMobil, Starbucks, Nestlé and Applebee's. Interestingly, these experiences have been quite synergistic in my efforts with my [co-founder] wife KC to grow Monkey Fish Toys - in other words, the experiences have fed off one another. Why did you decide to open a toy shop? Toys have been a life-long love going back to childhood. I can still remember the joy I felt when my mom would take me to my favourite toy store: Mr. Big Toyland in the Massachusetts suburb of Waltham. We strive to replicate that every day with our customers. If we can provide joyful memories to today's parents, grandparents and children, we've hit our main goal!
Tell us about your business.
We are a speciality toy retailer in West Chester, a quaint college town outside Philadelphia. We started as an onlineonly retailer over 20 years ago and evolved into bricks-and-mortar retail about 12 years ago. This evolution was almost by accident: we had outgrown our basement and garage and needed to find a new place to operate. This led to us finding a small retail/warehouse space nearby, which basically ‘forced’ us into retail - and we haven't looked back! Our store is 2,600sq ft with another 1,600sq ft of warehouse and activity area for parties and events.
What’s the ethos behind it?
Our goal is to put smiles on the faces of our customers - adults and kids alike - by providing a great in-store experience highlighting cool, fun toys and games, with the icing on the cake being our talented and eclectic team.
Why is it called Monkey Fish Toys?
would be a cool name or mascot for the store. For some reason, she blurted out ‘monkey fish’ (perhaps they talked about monkey fish in school that day). The name stuck because it puts a smile on everyone's face and people remember it. I will admit we get calls about once a month from people thinking we are a pet store!
Are you a member of any trade associations?
Yes, ASTRA [American Specialty Toy Retailing Association] and The Good Toy Group, which is a fantastic group of 100-plus independent toy retailers from across the US. These groups are a key factor in our ability to not only stay on current trends but to establish great partnerships with the brands we represent.
How would you describe the range?
Spanning from infant to adult. Adult has been a newer and growing focus since the pandemic - in addition to kids, we're striving to make sure tweens, teens, parents and
grandparents can find something cool as well, especially with games and puzzles. One of the best examples of this trend towards catering to older ‘kids’ is what LEGO is doing with the higher end of its range.
What are your key categories and brands?
LEGO is our top seller - we have the best LEGO selection in our area, and possibly eastern Pennsylvania. Other key brands include Pokémon (we run a club and a league), Mattel, Melissa & Doug, Playmobil, Fat Brain Toys and Schylling. But in all, we represent more than 100 great brands in our store.
How do you source new products?
We find ideas in several ways including trade associations, social media, having great vendor reps, and developing products ourselves (we have a few in the pipeline and had our first successful product launch back during the spinner craze). We attend the New York Toy Fair, ASTRA events, and some local shows each year. We try very hard to keep up with trends from our customers and their kids - our daughter is a great source of ideas as well!
What’s your selection criteria?
Simply, quality product at a ‘fair’ price - and a brand/product must help fill a niche or complement a segment of the store. The last thing we want to do is have 'competing’ products that confuse our customers (for example, why have four lines of toddler toys when we have Fat Brain Toys?). Additionally, when we ‘test’ a new brand/product, the buy-in
Sellers
■ LEGO ■ Melissa &
Doug ■ Mattel (Hot
Wheels,
Barbie, and games) ■ Pokémon (trading card game) ■ Schylling (mainly smaller fidget/fun toys)
should be commensurate with the risk: in other words, we're not going to do a huge buy of a new brand/product until our customers show demand. The popper fidget trend of 2021 is a good example of this approach. We tested it, then only plunged in after seeing huge demand signals in our sales.
What lines have you started stocking recently?
We’ve expanded our range of Fat Brain Toys, added Amahi Ukuleles and other musical items, and added more Speks and Hands Craft (both due to adult demand) and more Franklin outdoor toys. We have also started to expand our candy/novelties offer.
What are your predictions for what will be popular this summer?
The fidget popper craze continues to remain strong but is fading a bit. Other classic fidget toys such as Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty have seen a resurgence. Plush (Squishmallows, for example) remains strong. Games found a new resurgence with the pandemic and are only getting stronger as people want to pull away from their screens. Outdoor play is likely to be a big sales driver this summer as people continue to celebrate some normalcy and ability to travel. What are you most excited about?
I’m a huge LEGO fan, so I always look forward to each year's range and they seldom disappoint, with this year's range being more expansive than ever based on what we've seen so far! Additionally, early indications are that the level of innovation with both existing and new brands seems higher than ever. Every 2022 catalogue we get our hands on is emphasising the ‘new’ more than ever! We are undoubtedly bullish on the toy and game business for 2022, peppered with a dash of caution, so we're ready for any curve balls thrown our way.
What do you offer that other toy shops don't?
We have got to differentiate ourselves to survive in our market (we have two Targets, a Walmart, and other toy sellers all within 20 minutes of us). Some of our key differentiators include free gift wrapping, our large LEGO selection, parties (birthday and other themes), free local delivery in our county, and a dedicated game room.
How do you attract new customers and maintain the interest of existing ones?
We work hard to strike a balance between making sure our customers (and potential new customers) know we are there for them, but not being obnoxious about it - how many of us like the daily email blasts we get from big-box retailers?
While we do not ‘live by the discount’, we do send a periodic email with key updates, specials, and
On unicorns and dinosaurs…
A couple of our team members - Vivian and Julie - hit a home run recently by designing and developing new feature areas in the store for unicorns and dinosaurs, which are two of our best-selling themes.
Why does this matter? Three key retail learnings: first, empower every team member - yes, even the part-time folks have tons to offer if you let them… process is great, but don’t forget creative expression.
Second, sell what sells. I know that’s quite trite, but it’s something we need to periodically remind ourselves. Supply more of what our customers demand, not just what we think they should want (if I had a buck for every time I’ve been wrong in my buys, because I forgot this).
Third, be willing to take calculated risks and try new ideas. The toy business, like so many others, is constantly changing, and we (indie retailers especially) need to adapt or perish. This includes looking for new trends, trying new brands and reinventing our store experience. Ironically, we approach our business much like I approach trading stocks: play the game, cut your losses quickly, but let your winners run!
So, next time one of your team suggests something, even if it’s outlandish, you may want to take that calculated risk and go for it - you may just find a unicorn!
coupons. Our open rate is well above industry norms (30%-plus) and our opt-out rate is less than 1%. We use Facebook and Instagram heavily and are using TikTok more and more - our team is the source for most of our content! We are known for our great selection, our in-store events (pre-Covid), and we have won several local parenting awards for being the best toy retailer in the area.
What’s the Covid situation in the US?
We closed in spring 2020 and reopened that summer with restrictions - these have eased with vaccination rates. We are fortunate to be in an area with a very high vaccination rate, which has helped to keep both Covid and restrictions at bay. Now, as we approach summer, we're seeing more normalcy than we have in two years.
What changes have you made in light of Covid?
We've had to greatly limit in-store events, but we are easing back into them. The team still wears masks out of caution since so many of our customers are young (and therefore not vaccinated). We ask customers to wear masks as well, but do not mandate it.
What opportunities has the pandemic created for your business?
It's truly helped us become great at omnichannel, including local delivery services. It’s also rekindled customers’ desires to appreciate the in-store shopping experience, especially when they are able to support local businesses such as ours.
What’s planned for Monkey Fish Toys in the future?
Methodical growth in our trade area (eastern Pennsylvania) including both in-store and online. We're also planning to roll out our own products in a very selective manner.
What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
Toys, toys, toys - every day is like being at the North Pole! Seeing happy team members, happy customers and ringing sales is the true reward. I can attest to the sentiment that it's not work if you love what you do!
What’s the most challenging part of your job?
Now, supply chain (as with most retailers). But longer term, staying competitive with Amazon and large bricks-and-mortar retailers. I'm not quite sure if this is happening in the UK, but it seems like every retailer in the US is trying to sell toys, from pharmacies to hardware stores - we need to continue to develop our edge, which is giving our customers great service, cool unique items and lots of smiles!
Where do you perceive the biggest opportunities?
Building back our in-store activities/ events, so we can go back to providing that true experiential offering. Additionally, as we grow, establishing or enhancing key processes will help remove obstacles for us - making it easier for our team members to service our customers. A recent example of this is in the area of revamping inventory management, from ordering to receiving to selling to paying the bills.
Where do you face the biggest challenges?
Increasing costs, leading to squeezed margins. There will never be a lack of great new products. Thanks to the amazing talent in this industry, there's so much innovation in the marketplace - we just need to make sure we find it!
What’s your favourite toy?
LEGO (toy) and Tenzi (game). My ideal relaxation? A good beer and a LEGO set!
