Posted by jim on October 29, 2008 under Consumer Experience, Toy Trends | 
Bakugan Battle Brawlers have made pretty much every top toy list for Christmas 2008 including Time To Play’s Most Wanted List, the Toys “R” Us Fabulous Fifteen, and the Toy Retailers Association Dream Toys for 2008 – just to name a few. Fortunately, we started carrying them earlier this year and gave the toys some prime real estate on the front cover of our Christmas toy flyer.
The only problem, and this is no small obstacle, is that in typical Hot Christmas Toy fashion there now appears to be a shortage. Our inventory has dwindled down to practically nothing. I have been begging my supplier for almost 2 months, but still no stock replenishment. The excuses have even lost any flavor – now it’s just “who knows with this company” and “still nothing in”.
Bloggers have offered the new term “Bakugone“. Parents are already lamenting the scarcity. I did find this update from a CBS affiliate in Miami, CBS4. Apparantly, Spin Master – the manufacturer responsible for this phenomenon – has “increased production to 300,000 Bakugan a day” (apparantly the word Bakugan is like “deer”) and Spin Master “is air freighting everything to their North American distribution centers as quickly as possible.”
One can only hope.
Posted by jim on October 22, 2008 under Consumer Experience, Economics |
For those who didn’t grow up watching Happy Days, the Malachi brothers were two demolition derby drivers whose infamous move was the Malachi Crunch. Well, this year it’s not Fonzie who’s getting the squeeze, it’s the toy retailers.
Over the past year, manufacturers have seen rising costs due to the increasing prices of raw materials and labor as well as safety concerns. But don’t feel bad for Mattel and Hasbro, the two largest toy manufacturers in the world. They just pass the costs onto the retailers. Normally, I would say don’t feel bad for the retailers, because we’ll just pass the costs onto the consumers. But, not this time. Consumers are scared. The extortion of the American people on Wall Street and the lack of hope relative to the election of either presidential character, I mean candidate, is causing parents to panic and plan to cut back this year for Christmas.
So who really loses? Again, poor Mattel, in the face of rising costs, “profits grew by a sluggish 1 percent, to $238 million“. How about Wal-Mart or Toys “R” Us? They are playing the same game as usual, loss leader items to lure you into the store and then charge more on other products. This leaves two losers this year, the independent retailer and the consumer.
The independent retailer now has to shrink margins in response to low price demands and the increased costs from manufacturers. As a result, retailers cannot take as many chances, so they do not buy as many “risky” items from smaller manufacturers.
The consumer loses big because they now have less choices. Going to Wal-Mart and Target, the consumer is limited to only the toys that these stores carry – the “top sellers”. In the interest of saving money, they settle for lower priced toys that their kids didn’t want. Even when the consumer goes to speciality retail stores, there is not as much alternative product because of the risk factor for the retailer this year. Certainly, this will put some small, independent retailers out of business this year, which will mean even less choice for the consumer in 2009.
Tags: buy local, economy, hasbro, independent, malachi crunch, mattel, retailer, small business, target, toys, toysrus, wal-mart
Posted by jim on October 19, 2008 under Economics |
Sometimes in the toy business we actually make a good decision on what to bet on for the Christmas season. Sometimes it’s a well informed, well researched choice of product that sells like crazy. Other times it’s just a good guess or a hunch that pays off. Of course, the flip side of this (that happens far too often) is the calculated risk that flops, or the educated guess that collects dust in the warehouse for two years.
Iron Man Mighty Mugg by Hasbro
As a speciality toy retailer, we have always believed in the importance of providing unique product that distinguishes us from “Big Box”. So, much of our focus has often been on educational games, made in America product, small innovative manufacturers and award winning toys. But, we have also always believed strongly in the consumer’s right of choice. Relative to toys, customers often have brand preference, and rightfully so. As a result, we have always tried to make sure we carried the brands that people wanted, especially at Christmas time, in addition to the rest of our sometimes eclectic offerings.
From the beginning, we chose to feature Hasbro toys prominently at Christmas time. While Mattel is the largest toy manufacturer in the world with Hasbro the second, we have always felt more strongly about the brands and selection from Hasbro. We have placed a couple of small orders with Mattel over the last couple of years but have not been enamored with their selection or with their customer service. While we have had our issues with Hasbro, we have found their brands stronger, products more inventive and enjoyed the fact that many of their board games are still made in the USA.
In any event, it turns out that we are not alone. While Mattel’s stock has plummetted this year along with the rest of Wall Street, Hasbro is one of less than 30 companies in the S&P 500 that has actually seen their stock rise in 2008.
Posted by jim on October 18, 2008 under Consumer Experience |
All right, so another post from me bashing Big Box Toy retailer Toys R Us…. But, bear with me. Here’s the quote from Toys “R” Us Senior Vice President:
“At Toys”R”Us, we love kids, and we want to help parents make a big deal about their children this holiday season. Our new campaign shows parents looking for the perfect gift and incredible values that Toys”R”Us has something special for every child and every budget. It also reminds everyone about the magical experience in stores by bringing back the famous, ‘I’m a Toys”R”Us Kid’ jingle.” See Market Watch for more….
If Toys “R” Us is truly so concerned with helping parents make their kids happy, why don’t they revamp their service rather than changing their advertising pitch and reviving their old jingle?
This is how I think of Toys “R” Us. And yes, I sometimes go to Toys “R” Us because we don’t stock and sell every toy brand in the world and sometimes my little girls have their heart set on a toy for Christmas or a birthday that I can’t buy direct and don’t have in stock. In any event, I always thought it would make sense if you could walk into a toy store and say to someone working there, “I have to buy a present for a seven year old boy, can you help me pick something out?” The clerk would then respond with, “Sure, how much do you want to spend? Oh, yes, would you like this, that or we have this over here….”
Actually, we have a local toy store around the corner from our warehouse (yes, I go there too) and you can do pretty much that. But, try that in any Toys “R” Us and you’ll get a blank stare. As a matter of fact, try this one (this is my favorite). “I’m looking for a certain item by this manufacturer, do you have it.” Response: (Employee pointing) “I don’t know, if we have any of those they would be over there.”
That’s the Toys “R” Us I know. No nostalgia there. No love for kids – no help for parents to show them how to make a big deal out of their kids. Just another big box with a bunch of disorganized stuff on the shelves. Always employees that know little or nothing about the product and care little or nothing about the consumer. Most likely this way not because of the employees themselves, but because of another large corporation that believes in spending a lot more money on marketing trying to convince the consumer they care, rather than training employees to do just that.
Posted by Justin Cresswell on October 15, 2008 under Consumer Experience |
hello and thank you to all our new followers, including @AdvancedBrain, @yoga_mama, @babyluxe, @JGMurray and MeMaRose (who are AWESOME!)
Posted by Justin Cresswell on under Consumer Experience |
@chrissy2e and uber geekess danielle are neck deep in the new site, which we’re building with @magento #deadline and #awesome
Posted by jim on under Consumer Experience |
It appears that the American consumer is committed to Giving Green this Christmas. According to Plow & Hearth, at least half of US shoppers are planning to buy at least one eco-friendly gift this season. Two thirds of these shoppers even say they will spend more in order to do so.
One of the items I found at the ASTRA toy fair this year that really fills this need is made by DANO2. Not only is the product eco-friendly, but it is also hospital grade and made in the USA. If that doesn’t cover all ends of the spectrum, I don’t what does. We are featuring the product in our Christmas catalog and it will be on our new web site when it is launched in a couple of days. DANO2′s Circus Teethers are an incredibly responsible, affordable and conscientious choice for your own infant or as a gift for another child.
Posted by jim on October 14, 2008 under eCommerce |
Our new web site is just a few days away from launch – cutting it a little close for the Christmas rush. But, as my father always says, “That’s small business.” We chose an open source product this time around called Magento. 
Currently, our site is on an X-Cart platform. I guess I would describe X-Cart as a good A to B product for us. It gave us something that looked pretty good and functioned pretty well. When we started the toy business a couple of years ago, it was a nice fit. I think words like “pretty” and “nice” describe our experience fairly well. It was a big step up from the previous shopping cart solution we were using before, Miva Merchant. Although, in their individual defenses, I think X-Cart and Miva have improved beyond what we ever utilized them for.
In any event, the open source model was a much better fit for us this time around. We needed a platform that was flexible enough for us to change the entire giletoys.com shopping experience. As we set our sights on much more than a “shopping cart”, completely adapting our focus from checkout to engagement and participation – we hope that Magento will be the tool to utilize.
Posted by jim on October 10, 2008 under Economics |
As if the consumer wasn’t scared enough already, now we have to fear that the world’s largest toy manufacturer and the world’s largest toy retailers might not make all the money they had hoped for on yet another version of Elmo. It appears that Tickle Me Elmo, TMX Elmo, Stretch and Fun Elmo, Ba Ba Baby Elmo, Up Up Elmo and Elmo Knows Your Name have not completely satisfied the public’s appetite for all things Elmo. This Christmas, Mattel thought the answer was Elmo Live.
Elmo Live is Scary!
But wait, Mattel (Fisher Price), had to cut some corners to keep the price point at $60. Mattel “made several concessions. Its final version sacrificed some movement to reduce the toy’s complexity. It also eliminated, for example, the ability to swivel at the hip. Elmo Live blows kisses, but other gestures were ruled out.”
And now, with the DJIA devastation plaguing the US economy, Wal-Mart and Toys R Us may not sell enough Elmos. Wouldn’t that be terrible? Forget the speciality toy store that can’t just “always invest heavily on Elmo” like Chief Executive Officer of Toys R Us Gerald L. Storch does. The independent retailer actually has to take risks on unique products, by innovative manufacturers. Products that the speciality retailer knows are exceptional because they have played with them and researched them. The only problem is that they haven’t been shoved down the public’s throats like Elmo – often in the name of “education” by PBS’s Sesame Street.
In any event, as consumers we should not fear for Mattel (who just one a monstrous lawsuit against MGA, makers of Bratz), as if spending $60 on Elmo Live at Wal-Mart might some how stabilize the economy and thrill the child that only currently owns a meager 4 out of 400 versions of Elmos. If Big Box toy companies can’t move enough Elmos at $60, they will just drop the price to $55. If that doesn’t work, $49.99 sounds about right.
Tags: big box, bratz, buy local, consumer fear, DJIA, educational toys, elmo, elmo live, mattel, mga, speciality toys, toys, WalMart
Posted by jim on October 9, 2008 under Consumer Experience |
In the wake of WalMart announcing dramatic price drops in the Toy category, KB announced it would drop prices on 200 toys. CEO Andy Bailen explained, “Clearly, more consumers are looking for affordably priced gifts and that is why we also just took over 200 great toys and lowered their prices to $10 or less.” What a great gesture to the consumer in this time of economic crisis!
Not so fast! Let’s look at some of the items on the list. The Are U Smarter Than a 5th Grader? game. This game came out for last Christmas. Toy sellers have been selling that at below cost all year to get rid of it. MLB action figures – it’s October. My Little Pony – it’s 2008.
Big Box toy stores are using the fear put into consumers by the DJIA dropping faster and faster every day (in the wake of any news, good or bad) to convince them to buy toys they can’t sell anyway.
Don’t fall for it. Purchasing toys that kids don’t want in order to save money is not going to help the consumer. Why not make smarter purchases from independent toys stores? Instead of buying a couple of outdated, useless, sub-$10 toys, why not purchase a product with an online component that is only $14.99 and allows children to play for months and months with other children on the web like VIPs or Groovy Girl RSVPs?
Both presidential candidates have gone on record about the importance of supporting small business and how it helps the economy. What will help the economy faster? Helping WalMart or KB unload some old stock before Christmas or supporting that local toy store in your town that can barely pay the light bill?
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