Summer’s here, exams are fading into the distance and the kids are already having fun. Schools are still open as we write but inside and out (and inside out if yoga’s your thing) high tides and higher times are on the horizon. Meanwhile, your TnP team is still hard at work and the July issue is flying high. Enjoy the trip.
On the TnP columnist front, John Ryan looks into the British Independent Retailers Association’s fight with Amazon. It’s an interesting read and he looks at it from both sides.
Nick Richardson of the Insights Family has written an excellent, rat-a-tat-a-stat dissection and comparison of gen-Z children and their millennial parents’ tastes and attitudes.
Our features are plush, wooden toys and trading card games with the usual informed comment in and around the products and trends covered.
We have an HMV retail interview delving into an older company that never relaxes. It has product meetings every day to discuss ideas and how quickly they can be activated in-store. We’ve also chatted with Ryan Street, owner and director of the equally successful Australian chain, General Games.
Then there are our very own Naishes reporting from the Fence Club charity golf day (founder, Malcolm) and the BTHA AGM event (ad supremo and ace reporter, Claire). Both were excellent events and the latter’s highlight was the Lifetime Achievement Award being awarded to Padraig Smyth of Smyths toys.
Finally, there are the usual favourites – What’s New, Don’t Miss, Month in Numbers, Talking Retail and more – not least some excellent and only just broken news pieces including the financial difficulties affecting the likes of Smiffys and Basic Fun – plus their rescue strategies.
