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<strong>TOY</strong> <strong>FAIR</strong> <strong>2016</strong><br />
JAY FOREMAN<br />
President and CEO,<br />
<strong>The</strong> Bridge Direct<br />
<strong>The</strong> toy industry was up approximately 7<br />
percent in 2015. What are your expectations<br />
for <strong>2016</strong>?<br />
I’d anticipate steady or down. I think<br />
consumers have spent the “gasoline bonus”<br />
they got with low oil prices, and more<br />
importantly, between the malaise in China and its effect on the<br />
global markets and the election with the Republicans hammering<br />
the fact that “our country is a disaster,” consumer confidence is<br />
going to soften. That’s just my two cents on that. Also, there is no<br />
big driver like Star Wars or Shopkins in toys.<br />
We’re beginning to see more innovation and risk-taking in new<br />
product introductions than in recent years. Will you introduce<br />
any new products or lines that take play to a new level?<br />
We’re big on keeping play where it has always been—basic<br />
and generally on the floor or tabletop. We’ll let others make the<br />
next big innovation, which winds up to be the next big closeout,<br />
on their own.<br />
What were your top-selling toys/toy categories of 2015? Any<br />
surprises?<br />
Our biggest surprise was how well our Shopkins “Kinstruction”<br />
construction line sold through in the fourth quarter. Companies<br />
have tried to place girls’ construction and building into the market<br />
and, with the exception of Lego Friends, not many have succeeded.<br />
So regardless of how well Shopkins core toys performed, we<br />
were sitting on eggshells waiting to see sales results. Fortunately,<br />
the product blew out.<br />
Star Wars drove toy sales in the fourth quarter. Which licenses<br />
will be hot next year?<br />
I think Shopkins will stay hot, along with core Star Wars. <strong>The</strong>re is<br />
a lot of buzz on the Trolls movie. I wish them luck. I tried to bring<br />
Trolls back 12 years ago, along with Hasbro’s Trollz line, and it just<br />
didn’t work. Of course with DreamWorks behind it, this just might<br />
be the time.<br />
What categories drove sales in 2015? Which categories will<br />
flourish this year?<br />
It will be interesting to see if drones are a flash in the pan or<br />
here to stay, along with hoverboards. Those were the two most<br />
dynamic and interesting new categories in 2015. I imagine they<br />
will stay top of mind.<br />
RICHARD BARRY<br />
Executive Vice President, Global<br />
Chief Merchandising Officer,<br />
<strong>Toy</strong>s ”R” Us, Inc.<br />
How do you differentiate your toy<br />
department from the average retail toy<br />
department?<br />
As the world’s leading dedicated toy retailer<br />
with stores in more than 35 countries<br />
around the world, we compete on our status as the toy authority,<br />
offering a differentiated shopping experience through our many<br />
brands and broad assortment of toys, an unbeatable in-stock position,<br />
exceptional customer service, and toy expert employees to<br />
help shoppers find the right product for the child in their lives.<br />
One of our competitive advantages is our extensive and differentiated<br />
merchandise assortment, which includes private-label<br />
products and branded exclusives, providing our customers with<br />
exciting and unique products only available at <strong>Toy</strong>s “R” Us. We<br />
believe strongly that these items are important to both margin<br />
and differentiation, but we also remain nimble to bring hot and<br />
new products to customers before they’re available anywhere<br />
else when possible, while also working closely with manufacturing<br />
partners big and small to identify truly innovative products that<br />
kids will love.<br />
Another factor that sets <strong>Toy</strong>s “R” Us apart is our ability to bring<br />
products to life for our customers in a very engaging and visually<br />
appealing way with in-store destinations on a global scale. Last<br />
year, we were able to do that with the highly anticipated movie,<br />
Star Wars: <strong>The</strong> Force Awakens. <strong>The</strong> excitement consisted of a<br />
year-long celebration in honor of the epic Star Wars saga, such as<br />
Star Wars feature shops containing hundreds of products based<br />
on the blockbuster franchise, and exclusive items that could only<br />
be found in our stores. We also have a partnership with Claire’s, a<br />
specialty retailer of jewelry and accessories, in select <strong>Toy</strong>s “R” Us<br />
stores around the world, to bring an assortment of jewelry to our<br />
customers.<br />
Creating experiential moments for kids and families visiting<br />
our stores is also important, and for this reason, we regularly host<br />
fun and interactive in-store events with our valued partners, such<br />
as Hasbro, Lego, Mattel, and Activision. We are also very different<br />
from our online-only competitors, as we have the opportunity to<br />
leverage both our physical stores and e-commerce capabilities to<br />
provide a compelling shopping experience for our customers as<br />
we advance our omni-channel strategy.<br />
As we strive to fulfill our mission to be the best toy company in<br />
the world, we look forward to continuing to provide our customers<br />
with the latest toy innovations, unique shopping experiences, and<br />
ability to shop with us however and whenever they choose.<br />
<strong>TOY</strong>BOOK.COM | FEBRUARY <strong>2016</strong> | THE <strong>TOY</strong> BOOK 73
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