Toytown commercial director Brian Simpson updates Clare Turner on the award-winning independent chain’s current profile and plans

Congratulations on winning the Multiple Toy Retailer of the Year category at this year’s Toy Industry Awards. How did you feel when you heard the news? 

Of course we’re delighted when we are recognised for our efforts in the toy industry, and we continue on a daily basis to strive for excellence, even though we are a small family business. 

With us being based in Northern Ireland, it can be difficult to build strong relationships with our suppliers in order to work together for our mutual benefit. But we go the extra mile to ensure what we do is recognised, and this has certainly proven to be crucial over the past few years, as our business continues to grow and our brand improves.

What do you think sets you apart from competitors?   

I honestly believe what sets Toytown apart is the relationship we carry with our suppliers. We firmly believe that profit is a partnership, and this has been proved time and time again as we work with our suppliers to get their toys on shelf in the most efficient and presentable manner possible. 

Internally, we try to keep business as simple as possible, which can be quite a challenge in itself. But we are passionate about selling toys that kids love, and that doesn’t have to be a complicated thing.

I believe our range is one of the best across the independents in the industry, and I appreciate that can sound arrogant but, with our size, we are able to buy in direct import products to offer great quality, value toys. We also ensure that we have full stocks of all the top-selling product ranges domestically, so we have something for everyone. 

I wouldn’t like to venture a guess at the number of brands we carry – it can be quite daunting! But, as a business, we operate stores from as little as 3,000sq ft (Newtownards) up to 8,000sq ft (Merry Hill). So it’s key for us to keep our ranges as tight as possible, while still having those products that customers expect to find in a great toy store.

Our supply base is approximately 110 suppliers, but this includes our FOB [Free On Board: goods that are bought on a direct import basis] business, nursery suppliers and so on. Regardless of this, it can be difficult to manage. But I believe we work well with everyone that we trade with. 

Tell us about Toytown’s store portfolio. 

Toytown has 31 stores with a relatively balanced spread across Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. We opened branches in Perth and Coventry in 2022 and so far this year, we’ve opened in [the Kent town of] Maidstone – with multiple other new stores being progressed for the remainder of 2023. 

One of the things that makes us unique is the variety of stores we occupy, with no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to our business model.
If we carry out our market research and believe we can make a profit in a town or location, while providing a service to the local community, then as a business we have that hunger and drive to make it happen – and deliver an enjoyable and friendly shopping experience to our customers. 

Our most recent shop opening in Maidstone has been fantastic, and is currently trading as our number one store. This unit opened in late April and will be a great addition to our portfolio.

What’s selling well?

Top sellers at the moment are the usual culprits: LEGO, TY Beanies, Squishmallows, Pokémon, LankyBox, Aphmau, and many others – all of which our customers are going mad for, and we have good stocks to fulfill that demand.

How has trading been for you so far this year?  

Trade is currently +11.2% versus 2022. But we have noticed it getting tougher over the past couple of weeks. 

I believe we’ve done a brilliant job to get ourselves into this position. But families have huge demands on them financially at the moment, with energy costs, holidays to pay off, and prices of most things increasing wherever you look.

It will be a tough few months ahead, but we’re confident of our current sales, and our aim is to hold the growth we’ve seen in the first part of the year, and continue to drive sales across all of the stores.

One of our key aims is to have good stock levels of our FOB and promotional items in all stores. We’ve been reviewing the sales data and the trend would suggest that people are looking for a bargain, be it a branded item at a lower price or a good quality unbranded product. So it’s key for us to ensure we capture these sales.

One of the things that makes us unique is the variety of stores we occupy, with no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to our business model

Toytown commercial director Brian Simpson

What are your hopes for the summer?   

Summer stock is always very interesting to study for our business. We carry a nice tight range of all the usual products you would expect to find in a toy store, and this range works well for us. 

The sun is currently shining brightly outside and my forearms are nice and pink after a lazy Sunday sipping cold beer, so we look forward to seeing a nice spike in our pools, water guns and outdoor games stock soon! Long may it continue.

What are your predictions for the festive season?   

Christmas is the really exciting time for us retailers, and it feels like this year there is plenty to go at in terms of newness to keep kids’ Christmas lists nice and full – driving their parents mad. 

I particularly love the new toys that are coming out this year. In particular I love Bitzee from Spin Master; and Cookeez Makery, Bio Beasts, and Little Live Pets’ My Puppy’s Home – three awesome products from Moose Toys. These will definitely be on my kids’ Christmas lists this year!

What’s the most rewarding part of your job?          

The most rewarding aspect is working with such a great team. As I mentioned earlier, our aim is to provide a service to our customers in the local community where our stores are based, to make profit to allow us to continue to do this, and to do what we are passionate about. And although things can get stressful and extremely busy, we are doing that daily. 

I know that when I take my kids into one of our stores, they love shopping the various sections (usually creating a bit of a mess at the same time) and choosing a toy that they treasure. This is what it’s all about for us.

What’s the most challenging part of your job?          

Contrary to the above, the most challenging part is making the profit to allow us to continue to do what we are passionate about. We are under pressure from every aspect: reduced customer spend, increasing costs of staffing and running costs… It all mounts up to squeeze an already very tight profit percentage.

What’s your all-time favourite toy or game? 

It has to be LEGO. Even as an adult, I still get a set or two every Christmas, and thoroughly enjoy spending a few hours building and displaying them at my desk (mainly because my wife won’t allow me to have them in the house).

It brings back fond memories of building one of the LEGO castles (a Wolf Castle if my mind is accurate) on Christmas Day when I was a young lad.