Indie viewpoint

School’s out for summer!

As we write this, the Toy Barnhaus satellite is predicting two weeks of heatwave weather, just in time for the summer holidays! The last month has led to some fantastic outdoor sales, and we have finally cleared all the old stock of pools that we have been working through for a few years. The key question now is whether we have enough for this year – or do we buy a bit more to guarantee we don’t run out, and maybe secure stock at a cheaper price than will be available next year? Such decisions are a core dilemma of retailing, but all part of the fun. Water pistols and other water toys have sold exceptionally well this year, especially Kandy Toys’ water pistol range.

Following the excitement of the British Grand Prix, the Formula One licence continues to be one of our fastest growing properties. The Lego F1 Mini Collectibles range is our best seller, along with the Speed Champions range, and they both show no signs of slowing. Another range in pole position is the Maisto F1 diecast from One for Fun, and there are some wonderful extensions to the range coming that we think will sell well later in the year.

Films continue to drive strong sales. How to Train your Dragon has been on fire (if you’ll pardon the pun), and Jurassic World Rebirth looks like it’s going to be ‘roarsome’. Dress to Impress Dolls from Click have also got off to a flying start, but we can’t discuss our bestsellers without mentioning Pokémon trading cards, which still sell out as soon as anything new arrives. It looks like they’re going to continue to be hot until well into next year.

Plush is a huge category for us and has grown significantly over the last few years. Squishmallows continues to sell well; continuous new introductions really fuel the brand now, and attractive deals on older lines also offer value to customers. Plush has become increasingly trend-driven over the last couple of years; if you had told us we would be selling plush plants and food a few years ago, we would have thought you were mad! Among the vast array of animal plush, there are trends that come and go, with Capybaras and Highland Cows very popular currently. We’ve had a lot of success with the Keeleco Snakes range; it looks amazing on the display stands which Keel provides, they’re a really great way to make them stand out in store. Ty is another key plush brand for us, and the new TY Beanie Bouncers have been very well received – everyone wants to try them out and they certainly do bounce well in store!

Elsewhere, the Numberblocks range from Learning Resources is very popular with both kids and their parents; Educational Toys is a staple of our stores and always sells well. For budding musicians, we stock a range of musical toys and instruments, including licensed guitars and drums from HTI Toys and pre-school instruments from Halilit (these are perhaps more popular with the kids than their parents). That said, the Pre-school category is getting a bit tougher lately and we have to be quite selective in what we stock. We know that many of those that read our column like to hear our take on the toy trade from a food critic’s point of view, and we have kept that in mind on our visits to showrooms recently. Most suppliers are well versed to keep us fed and watered. However, this year, although Glasgow is a long way to go, One for Fun surpassed itself by treating us to a meal at Gaucho steakhouse, which we can heartily recommend. All joking aside, we do feel it’s important to get out to showrooms to see and touch products, and we can report that we have seen some remarkable lines to get us excited for the months ahead. The catering is merely a nice bonus...