by SUE WARFIELD, President, American Specialty Toy Retailing Affiliation (ASTRA)
ASTRA and its members are eagerly approaching the 2024 vacation season. Our first-ever Play Awards catalog, that includes all the finalists’ merchandise, is in shops now. Neighborhood Toy Store Month occasions are scheduled for November, with every day arrivals of latest merchandise in shops in anticipation of a fantastic fourth quarter.
What is going to the season maintain? There may be by no means a approach of predicting how gross sales will go, however ASTRA’s analysis into shopper preferences for buying at native specialty shops exhibits us that households wish to store regionally and assist impartial retailers. The resounding message in all the main target teams concerning what drives when, the place, and the way customers store for toys was that comfort and useful, pleasant employees are important. Having merchandise in inventory, having the ability to store on-line with immediate supply, and getting knowledgeable enter on nice toys and video games have been high priorities. After all, that is the place ASTRA member retailers excel! The problem, nonetheless, is getting the phrase out that we’re right here and we’re prepared.
The Highway Forward
For 2025, we’re wanting ahead to the primary quarter, a time full of Spielwarenmesse, ToyFest, Toy Truthful New York, quite a lot of reward exhibits, and our personal Toy Boat expertise, which units sail for its second voyage, transport off on March 17 from Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
At ASTRA, we firmly imagine that Q1 is when it’s good to plan your finances to put money into constructing your small business, and every present brings a special strategy and perspective. Whether or not it’s discovering new merchandise, networking, or studying, every gives choices that will help you develop. Members of the ASTRA staff will attend all of them as it’s the very best option to keep in contact, not solely the complete breadth of our business — toys, presents, books, retailers, producers, gross sales representatives, associates, and distributors — but additionally to attach face-to-face with our present and potential members.
In June, ASTRA’s Market & Academy rolls into San Antonio, Texas. Following a improbable occasion in St. Louis this 12 months, our staff has begun work the improve and enhance the expertise for this 12 months’s present, going down June 1-4. As we craft our finances for 2025, ASTRA is dedicated to cost-effective bundle specials for retailers to take full benefit of all the convention and commerce present.
Moreover, regional exhibits, sport days, and ASTRA Zoom gatherings present alternatives to attach and study all year long.
By working along with companions in our business, together with The Toy Affiliation, ToyFest, Spielwarenmesse, GAMA, and the regional reward markets in Dallas, Atlanta, Las Vegas, and extra, we see a optimistic future forward, one fueled by spreading consciousness in regards to the significance of play in all of our lives.
A model of this characteristic was initially printed in The Toy E-book’s 2024 LA Fall Toy Preview Situation. Click here to learn the complete difficulty! Wish to obtain The Toy E-book in print? Click here for subscription choices!
The publish ASTRA’s Insights: To the Holidays… and Beyond! appeared first on The Toy Book.
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