Life lessons Learned at a Toy Store

False Discounts and Price Gouging on Toys!

It’s that time of year again. It’s the time of year where all sorts of stores start to fill up their shelves with toys in order to take advantage of the seasonal pickup that toy sales can bring in the month of December. “So, what is wrong with that?” you ask and I will tell you there is absolutely nothing wrong with a retailer doing that. Retailers have been doing that every year for over 100 years. Macy’s, J.C. Penney, Sears, Montgomery Ward(remember them?), and Wannamaker were all great men of retail that started these now famous department stores and brought in toys at Christmas time. It makes good business sense. 50% of the toys sold in the toy industry are sold at Christmas time. Only carrying toys at Christmas, means a retailer doesn’t have to pay for the carrying costs of maintaining a toy inventory from January to September and you can maximize your profits for 2 months out of the year. That’s the philosophy behind it for a lot of retailer’s that bring in toys at Christmas and why it’s done. So why am I talking about it and why should you read this blog? Continue reading and find out if you are really saving $$$ on your toy purchases this year.

FALSE DISCOUNT SIGNAGE! That’s the reason for this blog! It offends me! It’s an insult to the consumer! Don’t fall for it! I’m about to make some people in the industry very mad with what I’m about to tell you. Some Big Box and Chain Store Retailers are bringing in toys and then putting 20%, 30%, 40%, even 50% off sale signs up immediately trying to lure consumers into thinking that they are getting a great deal on the toys they are buying. These are not really sales at all. You’re being duped if you fall for it.

So far this year I’ve seen the popular Pillow Pets priced at $29.99 and put on sale for 20% off. The MSRP on these is $24.99. Doing the math, you are paying $23.99. Ok, so you actually did save $1. I see Melissa & Doug product priced at $27.99 with a 25% off sign for product that I sell everyday for $19.99. (No, I don’t discount because I think $19.99 is a fair price to pay for that product and I’m pretty sure that both Melissa and Doug would agree with me.) Whose price is better? Theirs priced at 25% off of $27.99 or mine at $19.99 every day? Last year I saw the Scientific Explorer science kits priced at $29.99 but they were on sale for 30% off. Doing the math, this stores customer paid $20.99 for them. Bee Active Toys and other independent toy stores sell them every day of the year for $19.99. That was a great sale; it helped that chain retailer sell a lot of that product.

Another chain store prices Ty Beanie Boos at $8.99 but gives you 40% off their entire store on a regular basis. Doing the math again folks and you would pay $5.39 for a Beanie Boo that has a MSRP of $4.99. WOW, their customer is getting a really good deal! The worst offense, more like an insult to consumer intelligence, that I’ve seen this year is 50% off of Barbie. Not fancy Barbie either, just the plain ole single, clothed Barbie on a blister card that sales for $9.99. This store had her priced at $19.99 but hey, she was on sale for 50% off.

Hey folks, don’t fall for it this year. Honest, independent toy stores are working hard all year trying to stock toys on the shelf so you can have a place to buy toys every day of the year and they are pricing their toys at the right price so they can pay their hardworking employees, their bills and make a reasonable profit for all of that hard work. They are not trying to gouge their customers or inflating prices to put them on sale and make their customers think they are getting a great deal.

Toy store owners like me, want to offer you, our customers a great store to come and play in and see just how awesome toy stores and the toy industry can be. We price our toys at the right price every day of the year. These independent toy store owners like me care a lot about the toys we sell and the kids that are going to benefit from playing with them.

We are experts on toys and on the price of toys. After all, we look and play with toys every day of the year because it’s our job and we want the children of our customer to experience great play time with the absolute best in toys. Toy stores know how important and valuable play is for your children. Don’t fall for the false discounts and price gouging of some of the large chain stores. Check out your locally owned independent toy retailer this year. We will welcome you with a smile and show you the value behind the toys we sell.

To find a Locally Owned Independent Toy Store in your neighborhood follow this link.
http://www.astratoy.org/find-a-store.asp?f=FindAStore&sf=ByCityState&dirCity=tuscola&dirState=IL

Top 10 Toys for Fall 2011

It is now officially fall and the leaves here in central Illinois are starting to turn colors. Harvest has begun, and in a matter of a few weeks all of the cornfields will have no stalks of corn and we will be driving across flat prairie where we can see for miles all around. Fall is one of my favorite times of year. I like the chill air in the nights and mornings followed by warm sunny afternoons with a fall breeze blowing. Pumpkin patches, corn mazes, apple cider and chili-mac for dinner and football are what I usually think about this time of year.

The kids are all in school and already anxiously awaiting Halloween and other holidays coming up. For our school age children, it seems like there is hardly any time for play with all the fall activities. Even though this is a busy time of year, kids still have a lot of free time and rather than having them sucked into technological gadgets, TV or Video games during those free times I would like to offer up a few suggestions to still keep them actively playing.

Fall is a time where some days are nice enough to be outside playing while other days are just too cold and you want to stay inside. Having the right combination of toys that can be used both indoors and outdoors could help save your sanity and keep the kids occupied and boredom at bay. Here are some of my recommendations for some of this year’s best fall toys. Remember that kids are getting a lot of paperwork, math, science and reading in at school so they probably won’t want to come home and do more of the same type of activities that they have been doing all day so it is up to us parent’s to find toys that are different and interesting and if they can help reinforce what they are learning in school all the better.
1. Role Play outfits or costumes as they are primarily know as at this time of year just go with the month of October. Kids love to play dress up and express their imagination by pretending to be someone or something else. Whether it is a costume for Halloween or role play outfits, hats, swords, tiaras, wands, or grim reaper scythes, this type of play is great for kids working out all day pent up schoolroom energy both indoors or outside. We would like parents to remember that this is great all year long so don’t throw out or pack those outfits away after Halloween.
2. Figurines, Animals, dinosaurs, army men, football guys and soccer girls are all great toys that can be played with inside on the floor or outside in the yard. Those sandboxes are still great to set up camp in and the sand doesn’t stick to your skin as much because you’re not sweating like in the summer. We recommend ZipBins inside that provide a playmat for the floor as well as a storage container and tote to take all your figurines with you.

3. Bumper Jumpers and other bouncing toys- these are great for toddlers and preschoolers to bounce up and down on and burn up that excess energy that they have on those days when it is too cold to go run outside.

4. Radio-Control cars – you can set up a circular racetrack both outdoors or in the basement. Following a track helps build coordination. Remember to get cars with controllers that have different frequencies so that more than one car can race at the same time.



5. Marble Racer Max Traxx – cars can go anywhere; through the outdoor grass jungle, sandbox dunes, upstairs banister rail or cement basement floor. Marble racers are made here in the USA. They light up and flash when you race them and can be purchased with MaxTraxx which help add a race track to your play.

6. Shrinky dinks – Always a classic to bring out on a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Color and decorate them, put them in the oven and watch them shrink. Shrinky dinks are great for making ear rings, necklaces, charms, backpack tags or magnets. Kids always have fun with them. Just remember to leave the stove light on so you can watch them shrink.


7. Alex Little Hands kits – while intended for the toddler and preschool crowd, these art and craft kits are great activities for all ages. You can choose from kits like My Tissue Art, Paper Bag Puppets, Puffy Bunch, Paper Weaving, My Collage Farm, My Sticker Art, and Clay Pictures. Older children will also have fun with Ready, Set, Paste!, and Ready, Set, Cut!, which is a great kit for helping kids learn how to use scissors. What is really nice about these kits is that you get everything you need to do 4-8 projects in each kit. The box is also a great way to store all the pieces between uses. 8. Beleduc Puppets- These small little hand puppets are being recommended here because they are cute, inexpensive puppets of animals, birds, insects, and dinosaurs and they are great for kids to take anywhere, inside or out, for great imaginative play. I can see kids running around the house with the butterfly and duck puppets, pretending to fly. You’ve heard the expression, “when pigs fly” and there is a pig puppet in the line that could fly with the right imagination.

9. Klutz books – Klutz has a book on just about every subject that is interesting to kids. Here too they can be done at home or taken along with them. My favorites right now are “The Klutz Book of Animation,” Klutz Make Your Own Video” and “Klutz Book of Paper Fashions.” These are great books that let kids create on their own about subjects that kids really like to learn about. How fun is it to create clay animation, movie videos and for the girls, becoming a FASHIONISTA! Also very popular this time of year is the “Klutz Book of Face Painting” which will give you all sorts of creative tips for using theatrical make up for Halloween this year.

10. Kites – WHAT!!! Who flies kites in the fall? Well, I do for one. Yes, here in central Illinois, we get some really great winds in October that make kite flying even better than in the spring so don’t be afraid to get those kites out and up in the air this year. Plus the second Sunday in October is designated as World Kite Day so I’ll keep my eyes on the skies looking for them and if you’re over near Allerton Park in October and you see one flying, it just might be me and my kids on the other end of the line.

Most importantly, as always, just get out there and have fun playing and experiencing all that life has around you!