Talking Shop
Brace your elves Sam Giltrow spoke to indie retailers as they reach the business end of the year, having navigated the ups and downs of 2021 and adapted to the unpredictability of stock availability this year. Simon Steel - Toy City, Wood Green, London dinosaurs from Mattel has performed very strongly. It’s an excellent line as there is a good range of sizes at different price points. Goo Jit Zu sales are also still strong, and our Schleich range has been as in demand as ever. Dolls are also performing well, particularly Barbie, with sales right across the range. As the advertising campaigns started to kick in, customers’ requests become more specific, and one item that many have been asking for is the Instaglam On the Glo Make-Up Trolley from Character Options. The new Lego Marvel sets and Lego Friends sets are also highly sought after, which I will hopefully get in stock soon.
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e had a great Halloween and fireworks period, following the disappointment of last year, selling every item of stock we had, which is unusual for us. People also realised over October and November that it would be to their advantage to come in earlier to do their shopping, rather than later. I’ve seen customers’ basket spend increase dramatically, some even buying everything for Christmas in one go rather than spreading it out over several weeks.
Games has been a mixed bag for us and over the past few years, sales have dropped off quite a bit. The air hockey table, table football and snooker table from Wilton Bradley remain strong sellers but demand for traditional games and board games can be quite temperamental. I think we are possibly still suffering the effects of the pandemic; many games benefit from being demonstrated and people haven’t been able to attend in-store demos to experience the different
What our customers read in the press can have a massive effect. For instance, one big newspaper published a list of top 10 toys for Christmas, including the CoComelon Deluxe JJ Interactive Doll from Bandai. We ordered that back in May but only received four pieces, which have all sold. Some of my fellow independent retailers who own maybe three or four shops received a similar level of stock. It was a popular line anyway, but a bit of press attention increased demand. Pokémon is selling extremely well across both the trading cards and toys, due to its 25th anniversary and lots of new releases coming out. Other character licensed products which are popular include Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario. Spider-Man also continues to sell well and with the new movie, SpiderMan: No Way Home, being released at the end of this year, I think this will only make the toys even more popular. We are looking forward to all the new movies which will be released next year after being put on hold during the pandemic, such as Minions and Jurassic World. Dinosaurs always sell well for us and even though we have had to wait for the new Jurassic World movie, the Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous series on Netflix has meant that the great range of
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games for themselves. We have noticed an increase in footfall with many people shopping more locally this year. We are located in a mall, and even weekdays seem much busier than usual. I am hearing that the West End of London is still quite quiet, so I think people must prefer to stick closer to home. I’m just relieved they came back after the pandemic because that was a major concern for us. I am looking forward to a fresh start in 2022 and will be visiting the toy fairs so I can see contacts and make new connections. It’s also so important to be able to physically see new product. I normally go to the fairs with my father, Martin, who started the business, and we come back and brief the staff on what we have seen. They are then knowledgeable when the reps visit our shop. Overall, I am feeling positive about next year, when hopefully we won’t have any more closures and can just get on with doing what we do best - serving our customers. We have had some difficult times this year, but I’m sure better times are on the way.
