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Leaving Dallas
October 17, 2008
I am leaving Dallas with a renewed respect for the incredible resilience of Toy Nation and its inhabitants. People I spoke with looked and acted confident about their ability to manage their businesses through whatever may come. They expect some challenges in the coming months but nothing they can’t handle.
I was also impressed by the time a few people in the industry have taken to become experts on the new safety laws. In particular, I was told by a manufacturer that some of his independent sales reps understood the law in depth and that they were invaluable to his company. It would probably be wise for all sales reps to become experts in the safety law so that they can provide both their manufacturers and customers with this value added benefit.
I have become increasingly concerned by the non-value added costs accruing to manufacturers because the major retailers have not yet agreed on one safety testing protocol. Repeating the same costly safety testing procedures for each major retailer does nothing to make children safer but certainly adds financial and time costs. These costs do not make better toys, just more expensive ones.
Finally, I had come to Dallas hoping that I might find what I call Toy 2.1, that elusive product platform that will be a paradigm shifter for the industry. Well, I may have found something that, if not Toy 2.1, may be its progenitor. Unfortunately I can’t say what it is because it is being kept under wraps. I can assure you, however, that you will be impressed when it is unveiled.
Next stop: Hong Kong.
Posted by Richard Gottlieb on October 17, 2008 | Comments (0)
