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On my way to Dallas
October 8, 2007
I am on my way to Dallas and I am full of questions.
It is the first Toy Fair to take place outside of New York City and that alone raises some major questions. What kind of support will the event receive from its constituencies? Will all the majors be there? If they are, are they there in force? What about the reps? Will they all show up?
This is going to also be a Toy Fair that takes place under the microscope. For the first time in its history, politicians and the public are closely watching the industry. We are in the spotlight and what happens at Toy Fair may be more notable less for its toys than for the possibility of more recalls occurring during the week or politicians and NGO’s using this as an opportunity to make headlines. What is going to happen or hopefully not happen? Keep your fingers crossed.
It is going to be a Toy Fair that takes place amid questions of where production is going. Are the Chinese, going to put their considerable energy and production capacity behind making cars and other high ticket items and turn away from toys as producing relatively too little revenue and too much aggravation for the bother?
Are American manufacturers going to decide that they need to take back control over their own destiny and turn back to owning their own factories? Will some of those migrate closer to home in Mexico or even actually home with automation replacing the need for low priced labor?
Will the TIA decide that it cannot speak for an industry when it officially only represents the interests of one constituency: the manufacturers? Will it reach out to the retail and retail/manufacturer communities (McDonalds, Wal-Mart and Walgreen’s to name a few) and reorganize itself to represent all constituencies.
Will our cousins in the consumer electronics industry realize that with E3 gone they can have a home at Toy Fair? Will someone from the toy industry reach out to them and make Toy Fair an even greater event?
What will the mood of the industry be like? We keep receiving broadsides from the press. How are we holding up? Are we a little shell shocked or will the industry's famous swagger still be there?
I don’t know if all of my questions will be answered but I do expect to find intriguing and interesting answers.
Posted by Richard Gottlieb on October 8, 2007 | Comments (1)
