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TALKING SHOP A few months ago, a group of retailers and buyers from right across the preschool world came together to cast their votes for the finalists and eventual winners for the product categories of the Progressive Preschool Awards 2019. Of course, with so many fabulous retailers in the room, PPS couldn’t resist picking their brains about how business has been over the past year – and here’s what we found out.
Above: The judging process saw a wide range of preschool product being put through its paces by the judging panel.
Jade Crow nursery, toy and gift buyer, JoJo Maman Bébé
Lucy Long buying executive, Character.com
“ We haven’t seen any downward sales trends at all this year. In fact, we’ve seen an uplift, particularly with the big movies such as Toy Story 4 and Lion King. We’ve bought in new product and they were selling through extremely well with organic sales before we even had a chance to promote them. We’re hoping that the Christmas boost will level out any losses we might see from Brexit concerns. It’s a really busy time for us but we have some great new lines ready in preparation and we’re hoping to see a spike in sales from those. In the lead-up to Christmas we’ll be focusing on the release of Frozen 2, with a whole range of new designs in the pipeline. We have made a real effort to make sure that this range is more design-led, widening the appeal for sightly older children who might not want an in-your-face licensed product.” Above: Lucy (right) and merchandise assistant Aimee Kelsey get stuck into the toy category.
“ The last year has been a bit of a mixed bag – business instore is a bit slower but online is doing really well and people are buying a bit of everything. We are continually acting to drive people instore with VIP events and experiences – the ultimate aim is to get people in at maternity stage so they can establish brand loyalty with us! There are quite a few clothing and nursery suppliers who are really on board with the sustainability trend but it can still be quite hard to find eco toys and play products with less plastic packaging. We’re hoping that will have changed dramatically by this time next year. Although it’s all a Catch 22 situation of course; really people should be buying less but buying better! We are always very careful to keep developing the fashion side of our business – we are seeing lots of recycled materials helping to reduce waste and that awareness is coming through in the look and style of the products as well.” Above: (left to right) Sarah Liversidge, Anna Varsanyi and Jade Crow came along to give a number of different perspectives from JoJo Maman Bébé.
PROGRES SIVE P R E S C H O O L
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03/12/2019 18:42