TOY FAIR NEW YORK 2019
KIMBERLY MOSLEY
President, American Specialty Toy Retailing Association What are the biggest challenges facing the specialty toy industry as we head into 2019, and how is ASTRA addressing them? Last year at this time, we anticipated more large chain store closures. As we all know, that prediction became a sobering reality that continues to reverberate across the entire toy industry and at all levels in the distribution channel. It offers members of the American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) unprecedented new opportunities, even as it raises concerns about competitive responses from well-resourced big-box retailers. Added to the mix for 2019 is uncertainty about potential consequences from new tariff policies from the U.S. and its trading partners. We’re starting 2019 with accelerating change in our business environment. There’s nothing new about that, right? This year’s version is focused on the infrastructure side and characterized by fragmentation, new business models, and channel fluidity—all of which tend to be challenges for small businesses. However, those ever-changing consumer expectations play to the strengths of ASTRA stores—more experience-driven purchases, a focus on social responsibility retailing, and a desire for shared culture. Successful ASTRA retailers always respond to a changing market by using their smaller size and entrepreneurial creativity as competitive advantages that make them nimble and adaptable. ASTRA will help identify what is working for independent stores and share it widely with ASTRA members using our portfolio of professional education options, including Marketplace & Academy sessions in Pittsburgh; on-demand, web-based education available 24/7; our certification programs; and conversations that flourish in our online community. ASTRA is known for members who generously share their best business tactics to help others. We will double down on our efforts to give our small business owners proven tactics for weathering the latest changes in 2019. What are ASTRA’s key initiatives for the year ahead? • To grow the expertise of our members, which will in turn improve their business performance and increase the viability of their businesses. Check out academy. astratoy.org for details on our professional education programs and watch for the full launch of our new Certified Master Sales Representative (CMSR) this year. • Establish relationships and partnerships to expand the ASTRA footprint and grow face-to-face opportunities for members to get together, which will increase the mix of ideas, relationships, and products that flow through ASTRA. Think CES, Spielwarenmesse, Toy Fair New York, Toy Fest West, various gift marts and children’s products shows, and ChiTAG. ASTRA will have a presence at all of these and more—in some cases, fueled by formal partnership, and many offering in-person education and networking events. • Address big picture issues with the leadership of an ad hoc independent toy industry “think tank” we call the Innovation Council. Comprised of highly experienced toy industry professionals and others from aligned industries, you’ll hear more as this group prioritizes the longer-term issues we must tackle in the independent toy industry. • Add customer-focused activities and benefits centered on new ways to add no-cost, in-store philanthropic programs and information about toys and play to differentiate their stores.
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THE TOY BOOK | FEBRUARY 2019 | toybook.com
MICHAEL RINZLER
Co-President & Founding Partner, Wicked Cool Toys What are the differences in creating proprietary product lines versus licensed products? The creation of proprietary product lines tends to be more all-encompassing as you are essentially starting from scratch and “birthing a baby,” while managing licensed brands and caretaking for someone else’s intellectual property tends to be more like “babysitting someone else’s child.” Both of them require passion, strategy, line planning, marketing efforts, and more. Furthermore, the creation of proprietary product lines has a much faster timeline as you eliminate the time that is taken for licensor approval. From a retail perspective, it is easier to place well-known licensed brands than proprietary product lines in which you have to convince retail that you will make the investment spend and truly get behind what you are launching. What business strategies worked in the past that will no longer work in 2019? It definitely hurts not to have Toys “R” Us as a launching pad for new products that are challenging to get placed broadly in the mass market. When I started Wicked Cool Toys in 2012, I knew that Toys “R” Us would be supportive from the outset and I could place my products there. They were always willing to work with new companies and entrepreneurs. I also think the licensing business will be quite different without Toys “R” Us. In the past, smaller brands had a place to live at retail. In today’s toy business, a licensed brand is typically an “A” or an “F,” in which they will either get placed with one or more of a few remaining mass-market retailers, or likely not at all. How would you feel about the return of Toys “R” Us? Toys “R” Us is a meaningful brand to consumers and offered an experience that kids truly enjoyed! If Toys “R” Us returned with a store presence and backed by a strong financial partner, Wicked Cool Toys would happily support them.
