GoodToyGroup_web

BVM: Speaking of changes, what changes have you seen in the toy industry of late? Smith: Twenty years ago, in our kind of stores, we didn’t sell licensed products –you’d have to go to Toys “R” Us because they carried all the mass market toys. But, the world has changed for children and many of these licensed prod- ucts, the Disney products, the Star Wars prod- ucts, are good products that have good value, and people don’t have any prejudice against buying them. They don’t think that if they buy a troll doll, their child will never go to Harvard. Consumers now feel that most good toys are widely available. Also, the Toy Industry of America (TIA), a big trade association for the toy industry, watches the demographics very carefully–how many children are being born, what age the parents are, how the parents interact with online media, what the parents do, what the kids are doing, what they’re doing in preschool, what they’re doing in grade school, how they’re learning to read– all of that impacts what eventually ends up on a shelf.We’re not in a time when you THE GOOD TOY GROUP could put something on your shelf and say ‘You need to have this set of blocks,’ and they’d buy them. Now the customer will say, ‘My child doesn’t like to play with blocks; he’d rather play with something else, so why should I buy them?’ Now, we’re trying to fulfill the ‘Why’ rather than saying ‘You need this.’ The market and the consumer have changed. BVM: Are there any changes planned for your company that will impact the way you do business? Smith: We’re in the midst of a five-year strategy rollout that started last year. The major change is to become a full-fledged buying group, not just a marketing group. Also, to look for all the different ways that you, as a consumer, need to be touched - which is not just receiving a catalogue in the mail so your kids can pour through it, but every way that you need to be reached. BVM: Can you explain how a buyer’s group would work? Smith: Well, we might go to different people who bring in product directly from China and have a container brought into a distribution facility and sell it only to our members, or we could have exclusive prod- uct or product at a different price than what we’re able to get in the marketplace. BVM: So, that would be a rather big change from your original business model. Smith: Yes. But now, of course, it’s more doable than it was in 1999. There are more