Easter is one of the more unusual annual holidays. It moves around the calendar, to the extent that no-one is ever sure when it falls from one year to the next. I also recently found out that different countries have different approaches to Easter when it comes to how much time and which days off work people have. Here in the UK, those of us who don’t work at retail have a day off on both Friday and Monday to look forward to, so the Blog is coming to you a day early this week.
This year’s Easter is an early one, which is not generally the preferred option for most toy retailers. While Easter is seen as a good opportunity to boost toy sales, that arguably tends to work better when it falls later in April, especially here in the UK, by which time the weather may be markedly different (I have a memory of visiting the seaside one Easter in my early twenties and getting badly sunburned – I doubt many will suffer that fate this year).
An early Easter also plays havoc with like-for-like sales comparisons over March and April. But it is what it is, and right now, anything that can help to provide some impetus and stimulate retail sales will be welcome. Like me, I am sure you have seen LinkedIn posts from prominent indie retailers like Dave Middleton here in the UK and Rick Derr over in the US, suggesting that footfall has been disappointing in March (I tend to hum Ghost Town in my head when I see pictures of deserted shopping centres.…). Hopefully the Easter holidays will see consumers getting back out into stores, especially if the weather is patchy (sorry seaside-based retailers, I fear you may have to wait a few more weeks for traffic to pick up).
For those of you who were quick off the mark and read last week’s Blog as soon as it was posted online, you might want to go back and re-read it, as I did something I rarely do – I made some significant tweaks to it after a conversation with Pablo Merino, Country director at Poly Juguetes, who called me after reading the initial Blog. Pablo was keen to point out that contrary to media reports and quotes which suggested that Poly was ‘inviable’, he firmly believes that is not the case. Indeed, the stores all remain open at present, and Poly is in conversation with potential new shareholders to replace The Entertainer and take the business forward. In the light of our conversation, I thought it was important to clarify the situation. With the economy improving in Spain (it has apparently been a decent start to the year), Pablo believes that “subject to the incorporation of commercial levers hitherto not allowed by the current ownership”, Poly has a future. For the sake of the 180 or so employees, I very much hope that is the case – I have never made any secret of the fact that I believe a strong specialist, independent channel is vital for the health of the toy community right across the globe.
I was reminded of the extent to which indies can punch above their weight on a visit to Toymaster head office this week, where we caught up with Yogi, Paul and the team to hear how preparations are going for the May Show. You’ll be able to read more in our May issue, which will land on desks at the start of May, three weeks before the show opens. But the good news is that having outperformed the market in 2023, the first two months of the year have seen a good portion of Toymaster members trading up on last year.
The Northampton office has been completely transformed since our last visit – the team now works upstairs, while the ground floor has been turned into a multi-functional space where committee and selection meetings can be hosted, vlogs can be shot by suppliers (under the watchful eye of the toy industry’s latest mega-influencer, Paul Reader), window banners and promotional material can be displayed, and in-store shelf layouts can be tinkered with.
The space is not only a fantastic resource for Toymaster and its members, but it is also now going to be offered to suppliers who are looking for a centrally-located facility to host sales meetings or other company get-togethers – and it certainly beats the local Premier Inn any day!
Keep a look out for Toy World’s dedicated Toymaster supplement in May, where there will be a lot more news on what’s been happening at Toymaster (including a potential change to next year’s regional meetings) – and if you are one of the few exhibitors at the May event which hasn’t booked an ad in our inaugural standalone Toymaster supplement, there is still time (just…).
The same goes for the extended Licensing World section in the main May issue – we’ll be previewing Vegas, looking at the latest Hot Properties which licensees and retailers in the kids & family space should be considering, and rounding up all the latest character merchandise launches that will be hitting shelves in the coming months. Whether you’re a licensor / licensing agent or a licensee, there’s a section for you to showcase your latest properties / ranges. And it will be on desks three weeks before Vegas, which is important because – your regular reminder – nobody has time to actually read anything at a show (not if they’re doing it right).
Tonight, I am off to London for a media Q&A session with Alan Shearer, being hosted by Topps to promote its new Euro 2024 sticker collection. I have suggested a couple of questions for Alan to answer – I just hope Gareth Southgate isn’t there.
Whether you’re in-store selling toys, waiting at home to analyse the results or just sitting around scoffing your bodyweight in chocolate, have a fantastic Easter – the Blog will be back in its traditional Friday timeslot next week.