Richard Gottlieb

The Sweater Effect
August 20, 2007

Reporters always ask what the biggest danger for the toy industry is this winter and I have been responding that, at least for me, it is what I have coined  “The Sweater Effect.” The effect in question hearkens back to my childhood when that big wrapped present that I thought was a toy turned out to be a crappy sweater. Bummer!

My concern is that this Christmas selling season we may see too many kids getting sweaters instead of toys. The sweater effect, of course, is a measure of migration out of the toy department and towards clothing and other products categories that consumers feel safe buying for kids.

As US manufacturers and retailers figure out new strategies for the coming Christmas selling season, specialty toy and gift stores that carry toys made in places other than China may well see a major boost this shopping season.   So will manufacturers that make their products in the U.S. and Europe.

There is not, however, going to be enough of this kind of product to satisfy shoppers. In addition, there are going to be shoppers who are just going to turn off on toys.

We all benefit, no matter where the product is manufactured, keeping shoppers in the toy department and in toy stores. So, ultimately, it is not going to be a matter of Chinese made toys losing out to American made toys so much as the entire toy industry losing out to everybody else. We are all in this together.

It would be helpful, therefore, for the TIA or some other entity to consider pulling together a toy industry think tank consisting of the best and brightest inside and outside the toy industry to come up with a plan to keep shoppers in the toy department this Christmas and for Christmases to come. We are a big industry. We are an old industry. We need to be a smart industry.

Posted by Richard Gottlieb on August 20, 2007 | Comments (0)