Q&A
Toymaster
Strength in numbers
Toy World spoke to Toymaster’s retail manager, Brian McLaughlin, to hear how 2019 was for the buying group’s members, and what its plans are for Toy Fair 2020.
Toymaster welcomed a number of new garden centre members last year; is there a risk that expanding the membership in this way may create competition with toy specialist members? This is definitely a topic that perhaps needs some clarification, as it seems quite a few people have the wrong end of the stick about what this means for the group. Most of our garden centre Toymaster members are part of British Garden Centres, which is based in Brigg. The big uptake in membership everyone saw in 2019 was a result of British Garden Centres taking ownership of a number of former Wyevale centres. Wyevale has been closing quite a few of its sites during the past 18 months, the majority of which have been picked up by Dobbies, Blue Diamond, and British Garden Centres. The latter has been a member of Toymaster for several years, and so when it acquired these new sites they all became member stores too. It’s worth noting that while new buyers are now involved, which may result in adjustments to the ranges, virtually all these centres were already stocking toys prior to being acquired. In that respect, there’s no new competition. At a base level, the only thing that’s changed is the ownership of these centres.
Black Friday landed a week later in 2019 than it did in 2018 – did this affect sales for your members? What was the overall Black Friday feedback like? Feedback has certainly been mixed. Black Friday landed on payday for many this year, which was a positive compared to 2018, but we have seen varying degrees of success. Some of our members go all-in for Black Friday, from the advertising and signage to the in-store discounts, whereas others will simply make use of the
heightened awareness to draw attention to any offers they may be running, pushing through existing deals. Our members can pick and choose their level of Black Friday activity according what suits their business each year. Black Friday has been more positive for some members than it has been for others, depending on location, footfall etc. We have noticed that Black Friday kickstarted the peak season for a lot of consumers; it may have been a week later in 2019, but it still acted as that galvanising factor for Q4 shopping. Christmas has come very late the past few years, and with Christmas 2019 landing on a Wednesday, most shoppers got an extra couple of days to finish their Christmas shopping (assuming a lot of people broke up from work on Friday 20th December). This resulted in some very late shopping indeed. The later Christmas shopping gets, the higher we see footfall in bricks & mortar stores; at that stage, people want and need the products in their hands, ready to take home and wrap. It’s too late for most online orders.
they found challenging so we can learn from this feedback. We also want to hear how Toy Fair is panning out for them, and what they’ve seen that they’re particularly excited about (including anything they’ve seen at previews). This gives us a steer on what the major highlights of the year might be as far as our members are concerned.
This year, a number of independent toy retailers have closed down. How can Toymaster help those that are finding things tough?
Our main message to suppliers, and also to licensors, is that the independent sector is still hugely important to the UK retail scene. Our members offer the potential for plenty of high street exposure, with some 250 stores across the UK and Ireland ready and able to promote a raft of toy and game brands. Suppliers need to be aware that there’s a lot of retail shelf space out there and available to them in the form of Toymaster members, and we want to work with them to maximise on that. We haven’t nailed down the full 2020 window display programme yet either, so the second half of the year offers plenty of opportunities for those who want to get on board. Again, anyone interested can come and talk to us at Toy Fair.
Toymaster membership offers several benefits. Alongside the support and advice we offer, members working with us can enjoy much easier access to suppliers and special trading terms. Our central invoicing and payment systems mean retailers can spend more time focusing on their business, not their paperwork and invoices. We offer a great window display programme so indie retailers can promote key brands throughout the year, if they want to. Through Toymaster, members can also access FOB ranges which offer higher margins, which they couldn’t get hold of outside of the group. We’re helping our members the same way we always have – by offering unrivalled help and support, tailored to each and every individual retailer. All our members are distinctly different, unlike nationals, and there is no one-size-fits-all approach. We work closely with all our members to ensure their customer profile is understood and catered to.
What are your plans for Toy Fair this year? We have three core aims this year. We want to catch up with all our existing members; find out what was good for them in 2019, and what
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Secondly, we want to meet potential new members. Our Toymaster lounge, situated on the ground floor of the Grand Hall at Olympia, is open to anyone who wants to discuss membership. If anyone wants to contact me before the show to arrange a meeting, please email me (brian.mcLaughlin@toymaster.co.uk) or call 07887 844996. We’ll also be welcoming drop-ins across the three days. Lastly, we also want to get out on the show floor as a Toymaster team, to take in what’s coming through for 2020 and gauge the mood of attendees.
What messages do you have for Toymaster suppliers and members at this time in the year?
What do you think 2020 holds for the toy industry? We expect it’ll be another challenging year for all, with a lot of competition out there for consumer spending. There are many other categories out there that appeal to children outside of toys. The industry must make sure it’s constantly innovating, getting its products out there and showcasing them in the best way possible. I’ve been in the industry for 20 years, and even with 2019 being as difficult as it was, the mood coming into Toy Fair is as optimistic as it usually is. There’s a lot to be excited about at this time of year.