LEADER Clare Turner
S At the heart of retail Also by Lema Publishing
TableWare INTERNATIONAL
TableWare INTERNATIONAL
AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE
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o, we’re now in the midst of the Golden Quarter. All eyes are looking towards Black Friday and Cyber Monday - and the toy industry is holding its collective breath to see how the Christmas peak period pans out. At the time of writing, with less than 60 days until Christmas Day, department store group Selfridges has just unveiled its Christmas of Dreams theme through window displays across its shops in London, Birmingham and Manchester, and a digital campaign starring actress Jane Horrocks. Topping its ‘most magical gifts and toys for kids’ list are Squishmallows, Star Wars LEGO sets and the Paw Patrol Ultimate City Tower. And, in a sobering sign of the times, Harrods has announced that the traditional Christmas Grotto experience, which the Knightsbridge department store is renowned for, will not be returning in 2021 as Santa is social distancing. Aside from the ongoing need to mind Covid measures, other issues could potentially dampen the festive mood for toy retailers. It’s been well documented that global supply chain disruptions may delay products arriving to the UK, resulting in possible shortages. But businesses have moved fast to warn consumers and, from talking to several indies for this issue, it’s clear that the call has been heard and heeded. It seems many shoppers have already brought their Christmas purchasing forward to guarantee the availability of their desired gifts. In fact, several retailers noticed a trend to buy early as far back as September. As Downtown toys buyer Zac Chapman points out in our popular Talking Retail section: “Customers are clued up, and with everything they see in the news, I think they are very much taking the ‘see-itbuy-it’ mentality this Christmas.” And there’s more good news from Future plc, the global platform for specialist media. Its research has revealed that Brits saved nearly £200 billion in the various lockdowns, and 82% plan to splash their accrued cash
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on Black Friday purchases and festive gifts. According to the survey of 2,000 respondents, 55% intend to make Christmas the biggest celebration yet. As Tom Harwood, data and insight manager of marketing solutions agency Gekko Group notes, a big draw for spending that money for most people this year will be the fact that we all missed out in many ways last year - whether it be meeting loved ones in-person or a trip to an atmospheric high street to do our Christmas shopping. And with Christmas Day falling on a weekend this year, this provides a longer final trading week - offering any last-minute customers an opportunity to shop in-store in the immediate days leading up to December 25, when it cannot always be guaranteed that online purchases will be delivered in time. Those paying a visit to their local toy shop will of course be expecting a positive experience - and retailers, as ever, will continue to rise to the challenge. Businesses, from small to large, have worked hard to ensure they have the stock they need for a successful Christmas period. Examples include our columnist Hazel McCarthy, owner of Toy Corner in Galway, who planned on having 95% of her Christmas stock in by the end of October, while fellow columnist Amanda Alexander, owner of Giddy Goat Toys in Didsbury, “threw caution to the wind” and spent three times as much on stock this September as in any previous Septembers. Alan Simpson, founder and executive chairman of SMF Toytown - which operates 33 stores across Northern Ireland, Scotland and England - took a similarly pragmatic approach even earlier in the year. He says that back in June he knew price rises were in the pipeline, so set in motion a mission to “buy in pre-price increase as much as we can actually get”. His company bought domestically too, and “filled our boots where we could”. You can read more about their trading experiences on pages 24, 23 and 42 respectively. But how have you ensured that you are managing the unprecedented issues that 2021 has brought us? I’d love you to get in touch and share your story. You can connect with me via LinkedIn or email me at clare@lemapublishing.co.uk. I look forward to hearing from you.
Businesses from small to large have worked hard to ensure they have the stock they need for a successful Christmas period
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