Happy New Year everyone (I assume it’s still ok to say that a week into the New Year?). I hope you all had a wonderful festive season and you’re feeling fully recharged and ready to face whatever fun and frolics 2023 has in store for us.
There have been a few negative stories in the press about post-Christmas retail footfall across the UK, but I want to focus purely on the toy retail channel. Allowing for the fact that my feedback is anecdotal rather than statistical, I see a very different picture. Based on what I have been hearing, the week before Christmas was exceptional for many toy stores – several posted on LinkedIn that they broke records day after day in that final week. Compared to where we were at the end of October, the contrast couldn’t have been greater.
Even the local Argos branch that I highlighted in the Blog before Christmas – when it was looking rather forlorn – had long queues on Christmas Eve. It’s well known that customers tend to turn to independent stores in December, once online delivery becomes too risky an option. It seems you can now put Argos in that same bracket – aided arguably by some aggressive promotional activity at the end of the season, but still, it appears as though Argos may have benefitted from a strong late surge (also confirmed to me by one of the Argos buying team).
Another retailer which enjoyed an excellent festive season was B&M – Q4 turnover rose by 6.4% and healthy non-grocery sales helped the retailer to significantly increase its margin. Perhaps it’s no surprise then that one major toy company told me this week that B&M is now its second largest account. It’s not exactly rocket science: retailers who can move fast and make swift decisions are important for a supplier’s P&L – a crucial reason why the likes of Smyths and B&M are regarded by many toy suppliers as key partners.
Rounding off a strong December, I gather the week after Christmas was decent as well (despite what you may have read in the papers about footfall). As a result, it appears that the stock situation here in the UK is rather better than some had predicted. The caveat is that the US stock holding situation allegedly didn’t improve to the same extent as the UK, and that stock will have to go somewhere – it won’t necessarily stay on the other side of the Atlantic. Nevertheless, it seems that many of our retailers may have come out far cleaner than they imagined, which can only be a good thing when evaluating what may happen over the coming months.
That said, it looks like Q1 may be a rocky time at Amazon. The staff are getting restless: warehouse workers in Coventry are set to stage Amazon’s first ever strike in the UK on January 25th, unhappy at the 50p an hour pay rise on offer. That, of course, only applies to the staff being retained – Amazon announced this week that it would be cutting a massive 18,000 jobs across the globe. So, have I got this right – Amazon went on a massive hiring spree over the last two years, paying many new employees well over the odds to entice them away from other companies….and now they’re getting rid of 18,000 of them? An interesting approach. As one very knowledgeable person pointed out on my LinkedIn feed, it looks like the anticipated cost-cutting exercise has begun – and as she says, “let’s see how this effects trading terms and products that are not profitable.” Very much a case of ‘watch this space’…
I was extremely sad to hear that VTech’s Julian Page passed away this week. Aged only 53, he was taken far too soon. He will be sadly missed, and our thoughts are with his wife Vicky and his two daughters. As one of Julian’s colleagues told me: “It’s going to be hard for us going to London Toy Fair not having Julian with us. He was such a popular member of our team and well-loved across the whole toy community.”
I want to end the Blog as it began, on a positive note – and from our perspective, nothing can beat the thrill of our January issue landing on desks, as it has been doing over the past couple of days. The whole Toy World team worked tirelessly in December to bring you an issue we’re incredibly proud of. The whole Toy World team worked tirelessly in December to bring you an issue we’re incredibly proud of. The digital issue is now available to read online – after some considerable work on our part to increase the capacity to allow us to upload an issue of that magnitude to the Issuu platform! It is the single largest issue we have ever published, as anyone who has picked it up will attest (one person told me he suffered a hernia – I hope he was joking, as he would probably still be waiting at A+E by the time Toy Fair opens). Seriously, though, a massive thank you to every toy, licensing and supply company that wanted to be part of this very special publication – your support is very much appreciated. And it makes those people who try to pass off a tiny graphic on LinkedIn as ‘marketing’ look like the cheapskates they are…. (Come on, we’re all thinking it – including your retail customers).
If you are heading to London and / or Nuremberg Toy Fairs in a few weeks’ time, this issue rounds up all the information you need to make the most of your trips – in particular, it details the companies you need to see and the products they’re most excited about. There is a veritable treasure trove of fresh new ranges within the 394 pages – however tricky 2022 was to navigate, the toy community knows that new products are the lifeblood of the industry, and that standing still isn’t an option. I see plenty to get excited about for this year, and a host of new introductions worth seeking out at the forthcoming shows. So, grab a huge mug of something warm, any leftover Christmas biscuits or mince pies within reach, and throw yourself into the issue with gusto – I promise it will be worth your time. Then, fully researched and armed with all the essential information you need, we’ll look forward to seeing you at the shows (please note we cannot provide a wheelbarrow to carry the issue if you do pick one up from our stand, so don’t skip the gym over the next few weeks to ensure you are in prime condition).
