ASTRA Reaches More Than 90 Million to Buy Local

Playthings Staff -- Gifts and Dec, 11/21/2012 12:46:10 PM

CHICAGO - The American Specialty Toy Retailing Association (ASTRA) reached a reading audience of more than 90 million consumers during this year's Neighborhood Toy Store Day.

Thanks to ASTRA's outreach to national media outlets, coupled with outreach ASTRA retailers made in their local markets using press release templates and other resources provided by ASTRA, the importance of supporting locally-owned toy stores has been mentioned in several hundred media outlets around the country and across multiple platforms, including print, radio, broadcast, Facebook, Twitter, and blogs, according to ASTRA.

"We know that moms, who are the biggest toy buyers, get so much of their information from blogs and social media," said Kathleen McHugh, president, ASTRA, in a statement. "So this year we put a big focus on those channels. This is an effort to raise awareness of the specialty toy advantage and the importance of shopping local-especially in the markets where our members are located-and we are delighted with the results."

Neighborhood Toy Store Day was created by ASTRA to position the organization's retailers for a strong holiday season. It is celebrated each November on the second Saturday. ASTRA supports participation of its retailer members by offering free planning guides, templates for media outreach, Best Toys for Kids award program flyers and more.