Mission: Mexico

Like many of you in the toy industry, I have every once in a while found myself lying in bed at 2:00 a.m. thinking about business. How, I wonder in my semi-dream state, can I help my clients sell their products to all 60 million American children? Despite the enormity of the question, in this state I am happy.

Then, unwelcome thoughts begin to intrude into my growing consciousness: the dropping U.S. birth rate (oh my God), toy-hating parents (and I hate them right back), and the dollars being poached by the electronic gaming industry (Why don't I just commit suicide now?). My mind quickly morphs into full-blown anxiety mode as I wonder whether there will be any children left to sell to.

By this time, I am fully awake and filled with the kind of existential dread that only comes in the middle of the night. I look under the bed, fully expecting to find Planned Parenthood and the entire R&D team from Sony hiding there. Relieved that they are not, but suspicious nonetheless, I pull the covers over my head and fall into a fitful sleep.

Maybe you sleep peacefully every night, but I would love to wake up one morning, open the paper, and read a banner headline that says “30 million new children added to population.” All those potential new customers would make me hopeful…happy…elated! Well, sadly, that is not going to happen. But, there is a next best thing. We can sell our toys in Mexico to its healthy youth population.

Mexico has, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, in excess of 32 million children ages 14 or younger. Children actually make up 35 percent of Mexico's population of 100 million.

Obviously, like people everywhere, Mexicans love their children. More important to us, Mexicans love to give presents to those children. Not only do Mexican children receive presents on Christmas and birthdays, but they also get them for Day of the Kings in January and Children's Day in April. That means there are twice as many traditional gift-giving occasions in Mexico than in the U.S.

And when it comes to business, Mexico, our NAFTA partner, has enormous tariffs on Chinese toys. Some tariffs are in excess of 1,000 percent. In fact, Mexico is the only World Trade Organization member country that does not have a bilateral trade agreement with China. This means that companies that manufacture toys in the U.S. and Canada (I believe there are still a few) can sell their products to those Mexican children and their parents at prices that are competitive with the Chinese. It's enough to give you a good night's sleep.

Some of you may be thinking: How do I market to Mexican children? Well, you are already doing it. The U.S. Census Bureau tells us that almost 21 million Americans list their heritage as Mexican and the INS tells us that there are an additional 7 million illegal Mexican immigrants living in the U.S. We can extrapolate from this that there are anywhere from 6 to 10 million children of Mexican heritage living in the U.S. and many of them are playing with your products.

And while Mexico is our NAFTA partner, there are still some rules you need to know before entering the market. If you want assistance, however, in understanding how to export your products to Mexico, you can contact a U.S. Export Assistance Center in your area. You can find one online at the U.S. Small Business Administration's Web site at www.sba.gov/oit/export/useac.html.

Once you have decided that you know what it takes to sell your products in Mexico, you can sell them to any number of highly sophisticated retailers. Here are five of the largest merchants:

• WAL-MART DE MEXICO, with more than 700 stores, is No. 1 in retail sales. It runs a number of formats, including Sam's Clubs.
• SORIANA has 160 hypermarts, making it the No. 2 retailer in Mexico.
• COMERCI, with 175 stores, 27 of which are hypermarts, is tied with Grupo Gigante as the No. 3 retailer in Mexico.
• GRUPO GIGANTE has 260 stores in Mexico, as well as stores and a buying office in California.
• CARREFOUR, with 11,000 stores, is the No. 2 retailer in the world behind Wal-Mart. Carrefour has 30 hypermarts in Mexico.

Expanding your customer base is not a dream. It's a reality. It's time to do business in Mexico.