Steering through difficult times

With a tough first year under his belt, what with Sept. 11, a sluggish economy and threats of war in the Middle East, Tom Conley is gearing up for another Toy Fair. While doing so, the busy Toy Industry Association exec took time to discuss some important issues with PLAYTHINGS.

How was your first year heading the TIA?

It was very interesting and challenging. Going through Sept. 11 on my second day and then going through the economic aftermath was very, very trying. From an economic standpoint, it hasn't been a terrific year. Personally and professionally, I'm loving every minute of it. I'm very happy; I just wish economic times were better.

Discuss the new toy show in October and the audience for the October show versus the audience for the February show.

We've had an unbelievable response from the industry saying, "We have to look at trade shows as a business and see whether trade shows are a meaningful business to be in." We talked to industry customers and members—both large companies and small companies—and we understand that our industry is really two separate businesses.

We have this single industry event called Toy Fair every February, and there were some rumblings that is wasn't working very efficiently for both of those market segments. We came to a consensus that there is no more efficient way to see product than a trade show—which is a relief to us because it represents a huge portion of our income, and it's our number one member service.

What we found out is that the larger retailers were attending Toy Fair and spending a lot of time in the Toy District and spending not as much time as they would like at Javits. We concluded we would go with the October time frame and target the mass-merchandiser side of the business and make sure that the offering of exhibitors was on their preferred vendor list. We've learned most of the mass-merchandisers have 40, 50 or 60 vendors that account for 70 or 80 percent of their plan-a-gram work, and they want to get that finished before they get to Toy Fair. So when they come to Toy Fair, they can conduct the balance of their business, which could be 20 or 30 percent.

It's a common grumble that Toy Fair is too late for some people. By the same token, was Toy Fair Preview too early?

I think that's right for a couple of reasons. A lot of the retailers make trips to Hong Kong in the first two weeks of October. Most of the manufacturers weren't ready—from the retailers' perspective—for Toy Fair Preview. By moving it a little later, retailers are no longer looking at buying opportunities for the fall. They are just starting plan-a-gram work for the following season.

Given the impact of Asia on the U.S. toy industry, can you put perspective on TIA involvement there?

One issue is anti-terrorism from a shipping/transportation/customs standpoint. There will be opportunities to work with our government, which has been working with the Chinese government and factories to make sure that the factories and shipping containers are safe.

One of the wonderful things that's going to happen in China in 2004-05 when they've completed their transition per WTO, is that the Chinese market will be open. The Chinese are aware of brands because of television. The opportunity for some of our branded products not only to be made in China but then sold to a growing Chinese middle class is very real. Obviously there are some intellectual property issues that have to be resolved. I'm looking forward to the time when we can look at China as a growing and profitable consumer market, not just as a manufacturing and production market.

Tom Conley is the president and COO of the Toy Industry Association.