Richard Gottlieb

Retailers and the toy safety message: Is anything really happening out there?

I have, as I am sure many of you, been interested in how the big retail chains will go about reassuring their customers this shopping season about toy safety. It is important because worried consumers could migrate out of the toy department and fulfill a possible scenario I call the “sweater effect.” In this worrisome outcome, parents, and particularly grandparents, migrate out of the toy department and into the children’s clothing department. Think about it, a grandparent who is unsure about how to know what is safe or not safe may opt out of buying a toy rather than taking a chance.  Hence, a child who was expecting a toy may be disappointed to receive a sweater or shirt.

So, yesterday, it was with anticipation of a very proactive toy safety campaign on the part of retailers, that I traveled to Long Island to visit a Wal-Mart, a Target, and a Toys R Us. I expected to see a conspicuous effort on the part of these retailers to reassure consumers about the store’s dedication to toy safety, what extra steps they take to go about reassuring that safety, practical tips on what consumers need to know to make good choices and more. I anticipated that I would see these signs and messages attractively and conspicuously displayed throughout the various departments.

Well to my surprise, it looked like nothing had ever happened. There was no conspicuous signage except for an occasional recall notice taped to a shelf. Hardly reassuring!

Most surprisingly was the Toys R Us I visited. The recall notices were all posted in the shopping cart corral. Looking like wanted posters in a post office, they were positioned in such a way that the carts blocked easy access and made them difficult to read.

The stores were full of merchandise if not of customers. With talk of recession and yet another recall this morning, we find ourselves on the cusp of what could prove to be a very challenging toy-shopping season. The safety issue is not going away. I hope what I saw in Long Island yesterday is not indicative of how toy retailers plan to handle the safety issue.  

Posted by Richard Gottlieb on September 27, 2007 | Comments (0)