Retail gets crafty

Alex takes art to the bathtub at Bed, Bath & Beyond. Fashion designer kits from Lego America are stocked on end caps at Limited Too clothing boutiques. Michaels, the large arts and crafts chain, is testing two new Recollections scrapbooking stores in the Dallas area this summer.

Meanwhile, The Toy Boat in Nantucket, Maine still draws capacity crowds at its Craft Days. And this month, Toys R Us will host an "Express Your Creativity Through Color With Rose Art" and an "American Greetings Craft and Create Afternoon."

The story of the marketplace revolution occurring in the arts and crafts category isn't the usual tale of specialty versus big box retailer. Instead, it is a story that illustrates how the category has grown to encompass all things to all consumers—and all retailers, including distribution to book, gift, home décor and lifestyle stores.

Today's varied arts and crafts mediums allow children to express themselves at different points in their lives, with innovative processes and materials keeping up with lifestyle trends and needs, says Trisha Aquilano, marketing director at Curiosity Kits. Toward that end, The Rag Shop in Edgewater, N.J.,—part of a large chain—merchandises activity kits by Curiosity Kits, Rose Art and NSI Toys, as home décor and pulls out merchandise periodically to highlight a category that sells in the art supply and craft store year-round, says manager Toni Jesuele.

"Traditional activities like lanyard, woodworking and candle making are still popular, but the activities now often reflect current trends in fashion and popular culture," NSI Toys Susan Hanson says.

The new sophisticated consumer dictates the need for constant updating, adds Goldi Miller, president of The Bead Shop. "What's trendy and fashion-based sells," she tells PLAYTHINGS.

For a player like Elmer's Products, even glue has to keep up with the times. Changes in decorative arts has impacted Elmer's as consumers look for more color, innovation in delivery systems and better formulations, says spokesperson Terri Brown. "They also want easier and less messy projects."

The "new-improved arts and crafts" also means a great finished item, says Balitono president Yu Oen. Balitono wooden painting kits exemplify the classic appeal of a pastime that creates a work of "art" that can be used everyday or displayed. Along with a few mail order accounts, it is the strong turnover per SKU at the specialty toy store that keeps Oen smiling, along with the great number of repeat customers.

Faber-Castell is unique as an art supplier in the United States that has merged into the craft market with the Creativity for Kids brand. "The shift has been from dealing with individual supplies to the kit that adults see as an extension for making a craft," says Lisa Ritchey, marketing service manager. Its Creativity Kits mini activities have been a hit in craft outlets as an impulse item; the company is pursuing licensed product in book stores that started with Madeline and Dr. Seuss in 2002.

Scratch-Art views itself as a consumable goods manufacturer with $1.49 impulse party favors, along with more involved $4.99 activity kits, right on up through a $19.99 Scratch-Lite Sketcher. The open-ended creativity that the paper-based crafts provide "gives kids just enough structure, but doesn't tell them what the end product has to look like," says Debbie Loeser, director of marketing and product development. While packaging is an integral part of the line's success, it is that affordable self-expression that has captured the tween market. Scratch-Art entices retailers with its "Turn Play Day into Pay Day" samples of six different types of papers to keep out in the store, along with demos of new product. Long found in school environments, Scratch-Art looks to take that recognition value to a broader base.

To a manufacturer like The Bead Shop whose items have a different sensibility to teens and adults, a presence in ready-to-wear and department stores is essential to the mix. But be it in a toy or museum shop, price and packaging are tantamount. "Our packaging exposes all components, so what you see is what you get," Miller says.

Branching out from the specialty upscale toy store into book, museum and even military retailers is a given, agrees Alex president Rick Amdur. "We can all compete amicably in a changing marketplace based on product value," he tells PLAYTHINGS. "It's only logical to actively pursue avenues that open new doors as others close." With product once a presence in Target stores, Amdur says the chain took a 180-degree turn a year ago toward volume-type items that left Alex by the wayside. The company has long since adapted and takes art to the bathtub with a strong Toys R Us program.

Michaels stores carry many products within the arts and crafts category, staying clear of programs found at traditional toy stores. "Our objective is to make Michaels the arts and crafts destination for kids, not to sell hot toy items," says David Mitchell, senior buyer, kids crafts. "A toy store wouldn't have as much space devoted to coloring posters, paint-by-number kits, suncatchers and activity kits as we do."

Hot trends in the popular kids crafts at Michaels include updated activity kits like jewelry making, scrapbooking and room décor items, and the latest in art materials from Crayola, says Mitchell. Model kits are also gaining sales momentum.

As the weather warms up arts and crafts sales generally pick up at The Old Toy Shoppe in Durham, N.C. But the pick-up this year is slow in coming. "We don't compete with craft stores, but kids are not into it right now and just little twists on the same product may be part of the problem," says store owner Kris Dunlap.

There are only so many pour candles, suncatcher and crystal-making kits kids will get into before it's "been there, done that," says Betty Lewis, owner of Betty's Toy Box & Hobbies, Grass Valley, Calif. The search for new items is constant, particularly for girls. If not for Stationery Studio and Spray Art by Air Brush Pen, Lewis says there's little available on the creative side.

Hold on, says The Toy Boat owner Loren Brock. Everything's slow right now, but arts and crafts are steady for all ages and both genders at her 17-year-old store. Her credo to not sell a kit until she and her staff have personally tried it out is the one-on-one that sets The Toy Boat apart from its competition.

Open-ended creativity has not changed but people's lack of time has, says Brock, which has made commercial kits so popular. The Toy Boat conducts frequent activities featuring both commercially made kits, as well as projects with loose supplies that stress open-ended play over promoting a specific company.

Keeping the interest up is a challenge well worth pursuing for Ellie Bremer, owner of three Sandcastle Toys stores in and around Holland, Mich. But the real story at Sandcastle Toys is an upswing in crocheting and knitting that has Bremer both pleased and puzzled. Weaving and making pot holders have always been solid pastimes, but a retro look popular with girls is creating a buzz for a traditionally grandmother-type of recreation. "The overriding features of the girls' tween market are hip looks and the end result has to be something they're proud of," she says.

Enter Clikits, a new fashion design system for girls from Lego America that promises the creativity and quality for which the company is known. "The crafts area is perfect for the Lego values that have been strong with boys, and we've developed something that is real and authentic that kids will want to display or wear," says Chuck McKleish, director of marketing.

Starting with jewelry, room décor items and activity kits, Clikits is launching in traditional toy outlets, as well as Wal-Mart and Target, and in Limited Too.

Along those lines, Polyconcept USA is drawing on the Crayola name with interactive, electronic products like the new Crayola Trace & Draw and Geo Draw that utilize crayons and markers. While Polyconcept has been a Crayola licensee for over six years in other toy categories, it's in the arts and crafts arena over the last years that the licensor has seen its most significant revenues, says Rich Rahmlow, vice president of licensing and product development.

"This is a growth category for us and we're putting a lot of money and re- sources behind Crayola," says Rahmlow. Polyconcept is currently developing 16 new Crayola products for 2004.

Brand equity certainly helps, says Scott Bachrach, CEO of Fun 4 All, another Crayola licensee. "Innovation is key," he says, "and parents are going to keep expecting it and are willing to pay for it."