Soft market gets upgraded
Retailers, consumers give plush 'buy' rating
By Peter Suciu -- Gifts and Dec, 6/1/2002 12:00:00 AM
It is safe to say that the economy was a little soft last year; ditto for consumer confidence and spending in general. But when it came to plush, retailers tell PLAYTHINGS that the only softness was in the cuddle factor. And given the tragedies of last September, sales of plush are on a continuing upward curve, they add.
Good thing we asked; industry numbers are not quite as comforting. According to the year-end report prepared for the Toy Industry Association by consultant NPD Group, plush sales dropped 13 percent last year compared with the year prior. The drop, however, might actually reflect a softening in sales of a 'phenomenon'—like Beanie Babies.
While PLAYTHINGS own Ready Response surveys suggest that Beanies are still popular—they ranked as the number three top seller in March—specialty toy members of the team note that they really aren't the market-driving phenomenon of the past.
For some retailers, big and small, Ty's line of small creatures remains popular—although not as big as at one time. "Ty Beanie Babies are still selling for us," admits Carolyn Meyer, owner of Blue Turtle Toys in Dayton, Ohio. "People aren't knocking the door down anymore to get them, but they are still a great $5 pick up item."
For other retailers, the craze is completely over, and they're happy to see it go. Sharon Carlson, owner and buyer at Geppetto's Toys, a Woodbury, Conn., specialty store, says that sales have continued to increase for plush over the last two years as customers are going back to buying teddy bears and other lovable critters. "Beanie Babies really affected the plush market; I couldn't sell traditional plush when Beanies were hot."
Steve Swickard, co-owner of Estes Ark in Estes Park, Colo., believes that traditional plush and Beanies attracted two different kinds of audiences and that as Beanies cool down, many consumers seem to be heading back towards more traditional plush toys. "No doubt about it, Beanies kept a lot of retailers in business, but even before that trend plush sales in general were a little soft. Beanies picked up some sales and they haven't gone totally away."
Carlson sees a shift toward more life-like animals. In fact, bears, the kings of the plush animal kingdom, may have to share their throne with man's best friend (and that friend's feline nemesis). "What have really increased in sales are the cats and dogs. Before it used to be just bears," emphasizes Carlson, "but now more and more people are buying all kinds of other animals."
"Plush was up very much last year," explains Sarah Evers, co-owner and buyer at Asheville, North Carolina's Dancing Bear Toys, who saw increased sales following the terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C. "If anything (sales were) better because of it. Maybe parents thought their children needed a stuffed animal to hug as families suddenly became closer."
Similar sentiments are reported from retailers across the country and many anticipate continued growth in the marketplace for plush.
Solid ground for soft toys
In general, retailers are happy to report that the traditional plush market has really been quite stable for the past decade or so with overall sales remaining fairly consistent, despite the soft sales data for 2001. Novelty items have been seen by many of the specialty retailers as being exactly that, novelties that will come and go while the long time favorites will always remain popular. "We haven't seen any great increases or decreases," explains Swickard, who adds that Estes Ark goes well beyond specialty and crosses into concept store. The massive Colorado store is shaped like a giant Noah's Ark and features more animals than the biblical character had on his vessel. "Sales have been pretty steady for us. They might have been soft the last couple of years, but there was still demand."
Similar feelings were also expressed throughout the country. "Beanies certainly pushed plush," says Jan Feise, owner of Bainbridge Island, Washington's Calico Cat Toys. She adds that her store quit carrying the Ty product line long before the craze ended and has seen stable sales throughout the last two years. "Plush has always been constant, and I don't see that it will change."
"I don't think it hurts to have products like Beanie Babies or Elmo," says Dancing Bear Toys' Sarah Evers. "When Beanies were popular it certainly helped, and we had even stronger plush sales. It brings customer interest but it also makes people comparison shop."
Beanies are still selling at larger regional mass market chains like the Family Toy Stores, but it is "back to the standardized plush in 2002," says Alan Myer, vice president of purchasing at the Carnegie, Pennsylvania-based stores. "Last year was very good for plush, Beanies were still selling but we weren't seeing much in the way of licensed plush or electronic products like Elmo."
For other mass retailers, licensed products were still hot and KB Toys expected the plush products based on the Japanese Hello Kitty import to perform well throughout the rest of the year. Already a strong seller in the licensed category: the new Fisher-Price Old Mac Dancer Ernie, which has the popular Sesame Street character wearing contemporary clothes while singing a rap version of the kid friendly "Old MacDonald" song.
"Plush sales leading into Easter were really strong," adds John Reilly, director of sales, promotions and public relations for KB Toys, who did admit that plush falls off and "goes a little flat," after the holiday. But with Ernie and Hello Kitty leading the way the chain expected plush sales to pick up.
Knowing the store's customer base is, of course, most important. Specialty retailers agree almost across the board that their customers are not generally looking for the same types of products that can be found at virtually every mall across the country. As a result crazes and novelty items are carried but only those that these stores' loyal customers may want.
For Jan Monforton, co-buyer of plush at The Doll Hospital and Toy Soldier Shop, trying to stay clear of mass-market items is important while trying to meet consumer demand. "We avoid that kind of thing," she says, explaining how the Berkley, Mich.-based retailer sticks to licensed product that is tried and true to what they know and what people want. "We're not into the trendy items at all."
The many soft sides of plush
While trendy items—whether specialty or mass market—may come and go, traditional plush continues to offer something for everyone's soft side, say retailers.
"Adults as well as children are buying plush. It is completely across the board," says San Francisco's Linda Kapnick, owner of Ambassador Toys. "We're seeing a lot of boyfriends buying smaller items for girlfriends. But adults are buying the large pieces to display in their homes as collectibles. We're seeing a lot of that."
That type of collectors market remains strong and most stores say that the more unique products are always steady sellers. Anything different that can't be found just anywhere remains a year-round favorite with the collectors.
Plush items remain among the most popular impulse items at specialty stores, and additionally as gifts for birthday parties and special occasions. Jan Feise also says that she has even seen more and more kids buying it for themselves. "Maybe it is for a present for another child, but I think it is also a lot of kids spending their allowance money to get a new friend."
The methods used to attract customers to plush are particularly important, as these items are not often tied to a specific season or recurrent occasion. And there is more product than ever. While large retailers often have aisles devoted to animals of all shapes and sizes, all too often placed haphazardly as a result, specialty stores are finding that carefully placed displays and product positioning are the ways to go.
"Years ago, we got a clubhouse to display our animals," explains Kapnick. "A fixture really helps a lot. It does really well and attracts people to the center of the store." Applause and Lou Rankin originally produced the clubhouse, which holds dozens of animals, and Kapnick says that the results speak for themselves. "The products there do really, really well, and it draws people to look at the animals."
A more recently added display says Eileen Donald, plush buyer at Boulder, Colorado's Grandrabbits Toy Shoppe, has made a huge difference for Mary Meyer's Flip Flops line. "It is one of the more unique features of the line, and the Flip Flops hang over, attracting people to come see them."
All creatures great and small
In addition to sharing the spotlight with cats and dogs, lovable teddy and his fellow bears may have to deal with a number of other popular animals—and even a few non-animals. With increased selection and quality, bears may have to get used to a crowded marketplace.
"All of Lou Rankin's animals are selling really well," adds Donald, who reports that dogs are actually outselling bears.
Licensed products, including Dr. Seuss' Cat and the Hat by Manhattan Toy, are new favorites for many retailers, and Linda Kapnick raved about the new arrivals. "They are very creative. We've just started to get them in and it has been great. They are so well done and so true to form. All of these characters are doing well, and it is so popular and fun because it's just fresh."
Kapnick, along with most of the other retailers admitted it is hard to nail down the best sellers because there is so much to choose from and in plush it all seems to do really well. Jan Monforton adds that for licensed products it is hard to beat the continued success of Peter Rabbit and Winnie the Pooh.
Other names that continued to plush up again and again are Steiff, Mary Meyer and, of course, Gund. Horses by Douglas Cuddle Toys are among the continued surprises at Ambassador Toys. Blue Turtle Toy's Carolyn Meyer adds that "puppies and dogs from Douglas were always selling, along with just about everything from Manhattan Toy including Dr. Seuss."
The classic teddy will always have a home at Estes Ark but other animals are getting their day in the sun. "Until the last five years it was really hard to create a realistic cat or dog." Swickard tells PLAYTHINGS. "Now you can and that's why other animals are getting their due. But teddy isn't going anywhere. It has been around for 100 years so that really isn't a trend."
Still there was more good news for teddy bears, as The Doll Hospital's Monforton emphasized that traditional bears remain the top sellers. And even if teddy's sales had gone to the dogs most retailers expressed confidence that this trend would probably change. As with the stock market you should never count out the bear!
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