After an underwhelming July, school summer holidays are now in full swing and thankfully the sun has found its way back to the UK, which will hopefully help retailers to clear their remaining summer stock in preparation for autumn winter. And unlike some (Southern) European countries, the toy trade doesn’t come to an abrupt halt for the best part of a month, so there is still plenty going on.
While the first half of the year has had something of a subdued air, I do get the impression that there is a greater degree of confidence for the back end. Barbie continues to keep the spotlight shining on the toy market, while I gather Turtles sales – which were already decent ahead of the movie release – went to another level once the film hit screens. The big difference now is that kids are the news fans, where sales have been driven by the collector market for so long. With plenty more heavy hitters in the wings, there is every reason to be (quietly) optimistic about the festive season. One look at Dave Middleton’s predictions for his festive hits shows the breadth and depth of exciting new lines for Christmas – and there are plenty of great lines he couldn’t squeeze in. Thank goodness this year’s DreamToys list has been extended to a top 20.
Let’s be honest, the same cautious optimism can’t be applied to all UK retail sectors. Clintons has hit problems yet again, this time threatening to close 38 stores to avoid insolvency, after a failed attempt to merge with Paperchase. Plush suppliers will be keeping an eye on developments, although long gone are the days when Clintons was truly a major player in this area. Indeed, during our recent retail tour of London to view Barbie in-store activations first-hand, Mattel’s Michael Hick made the point that Primark may well be the biggest licensed plush retailer in the UK now. Disney has always been the master at ‘slicing and dicing’ licences, often juggling multiple companies with a variety of different plush deals for the same properties – which hasn’t always gone down well with individual licensees. But looking at Primark’s DTR range, I wonder if that is having a far greater impact on sales of Disney plush than any skirmishes between competing licensees. Thank goodness Primark doesn’t have Squishmallows, or it really would be building a dominant position in the tween plush category.
In addition to Clintons’ tribulations, Wilko has sadly had to admit defeat and call in the administrators, putting 12,000 jobs at risk. A figure of £70m had been suggested as the sum needed to get stock into stores and debts paid off – which sounds remarkably low to me. I think in the case of both Wilko and Clintons, regardless of short-term cash issues, there are more fundamental problems – chiefly that they have competitors that are either better (Wilko has been rather left behind by the likes of B&M and Home Bargains, which have far stronger, broader ranges), cheaper (who on earth pays £5 for a card unless it’s a really special occasion?) or more convenient (sure, I will lug this large bottle of washing liquid/china dinner service half a mile to my car rather than buy it at a grocer where I am parked).
Elsewhere this week, there have been plenty of positive news stories to report from the toy community: Mood Bears has secured a global distribution deal with Tomy, which I think is a great move for both parties. Meanwhile, Epoch has announced that Phil Hooper has been appointed as its new managing director – Phil will be taking up his new position on 1st September. With Phil moving on, Claire Coekin will be stepping up to a new role as commercial director at Plus Plus with immediate effect. Our congratulations to them both, and also to Wilton Bradley’s Mike Gascoigne and Halilit’s Amy Wildman, and Creative KIds’ Robyn Relph and Ickle Bubba’s Sam Tyack, on their recent marriages.
There has been some media coverage of Amazon withholding funds from vendors this week – I am curious to see if any toy companies have been affected. Apparently it introduced the policy for new sellers in 2016, but it has just extended it to EU and UK sellers registered before that point. Amazon has claimed that its policy is designed to make sure there are sufficient funds to cover returns or customer claims, but some vendors have suggested that the sums being withheld massively exceed any potential refund amounts. Etsy recently came under fire for a similar practice, but that doesn’t impact many in the toy community – however, Amazon doing it is a very different matter.
A couple of people have contacted me recently, raising queries about the New York Toy Fair admission policy. I can’t say whether it has changed dramatically from previous years or not, but if you are planning to visit the show, it is worth checking out the Ts & Cs here.
Some key points to note; according to the website, “Registration for Toy Fair is exclusively online. There will NOT be any on-site registration at the Javits Centre.” Some have also intimated that they are surprised at the cost for non-retail attendees (£299 for many distributors) and in addition, specific credentials have to be submitted to be approved to attend. I’m not going to comment on individual shows’ registration policies; it’s their show, they can do what they like (within reason). But it doesn’t appear that you can just rock up with a business card and get in like you can at many trade shows, so forewarned is forearmed.
Finally, as the Premier League season starts tonight, this is a final call to join the Toy World Masters Fantasy League. The league code is 1txeek, and we are tantalisingly sitting on 99 entrants as I write this column. So, if you would like to join and push us over the 100 mark, here is the website. It’s free to join – bragging rights and toy community glory await the winner.
