Toys R Us Australia has been put into voluntary administration. This is on the back of the closure of the US business of the same name but different ownership structure.
What I wrote here on January 20 this year is truer than ever: the Toys opportunity for newsagents is excellent this year.
Toys set to be strong in 2018 for newsagents
The toy category is set to be a strong category for newsagents in 2018 with more newsagents taking it on and with more suppliers prepared to sell to our channel than in the past.Toys today are broader in their appeal than ever before, especially bad games, which experienced double digit growth in 2017.
While a few years ago it seemed that games were in trouble because of digital disruption, they have come into their own thanks to clever invention of new products and recasting of the appeal of some traditional products, such as Monopoly.
Taking on a local toy shop competitor is possible for newsagents. It takes knowledge, focus and commitment. This is especially true if you focus on niche, special interest, opportunities.
As a guide, toy revenue could easily be equal to 50% of your greeting card revenue. I have determined this base benchmark based on data I have seen from more than fifty newsagency businesses.
If you are not in toys, consider it. The right toy product can attract new traffic across several valuable demos.
I know from my work with newsXpress that there are suppliers who do not usually deal with newsagents who are keen to engage with groups of stores. I expect people in other groups will tell you the same. I also know of newsagents who have given over more than half their floorspace to toys, and are enjoying excellent new traffic as a result.
This opportunity is real. For sure there are challenges and complexities. However, there are people who can help you follow the opportunity for success.
I tried contacting Lego last year to put it in store. They gave me a form to fill out and said if we want to work with you we will let you know…. never heard anything.
Jon, Lego is challenging. Their supply model has been to manufacture 80% of their sales forecast volume, to maintain their planned scarcity model.
Lego generally won’t supply outside of established retailers or specialty stores. They want you to carry large ranging not just what most newsagents would carry. I actually was looking at purchasing a branded toy shop just to acquire the rights to Lego. It is a money earner (The shop I looked at could do $60K in Lego sales on a single Lego show weekend) which is why Lego won’t just dole out their product to anyone.
It is hard yacka getting Lego into your retail store and you need to show you are worth the investment. They are not like other wholesalers where you just fill out a form. I think that is great as it makes you prove your store is worth investing in and makes you work your store hard. Toys are a great success story for my newsagency but this was a process started years ago as part of a transition from newsagency to retailer.