By Lauren Wanko
Correspondent
It’s just about every kid’s dream come true, dolls, cars, stuffed animals, and more line the shelves at Quinnderalla’s Toys in Manasquan. “There’s always new toys coming out and things they want to get so you want to make them happy so you get them what they want,” said Margaret Vacchiano, a customer.
The NPD Group, a global information company, predicts toy sales will reach $19.9 billion dollars in 2015 up 6.2 percent from last year, becoming one of the best years the US toy industry has seen in well over a decade.
Jenny Robertson, the owner of Quinnderella’s Toys, explained “we have a lot of fads that once the children get a hold of it, they want to come in and stock up on anything their friends have.”
“People are buying earlier, people are buying into niches, today it’s not a mass market sale, it’s a niche sale. For example Star Wars, for example Jurassic Park, all of the niches kids are excited about are really driving sales today,” said John Buzza a professor at the Leon Hess Business School at Monmouth University.
Which is why Quinnderalla’s Toys already has Star Wars items available for eager customers.
Robertson continued, “I have some now and a lot more coming in so we’re just waiting for the movie to be released.”
“It’s all about timing, everything is timing, Broadway shows are timing, toys are timing. You time the market, you look to get as much as you can out of the market for as long as you can,” said Buzzo.
Owner Jenny Robertson likes to stock up for holiday shoppers early because she owns two other stores, one in Hoboken and another in Point Pleasant bBeach. She starts going to toy fairs at the start of the new year. She says some of the manufacturers preview movie-themed-toys and she gets a good idea of what might be popular for the next holiday season. “‘Frozen’ was huge last year!” she said.
Disney’s smash-hit “Frozen” was also a smash hit for Quinnderalla’s Toys. “”Frozen’ products are still selling here, well after the movie’s release.” Robertson expects “Star Wars” items will be just as popular Monmouth University’s John Buzza agrees, “‘Star Wars’ is a movie that started years and years ago, there’s already a cult built up for ‘Star Wars’ so that’s the parents and now the children are part of that so the parents are driving the children instead of the children driving the parents.”
Although some shoppers are gearing up to spend after certain movie releases Robertson says others started buying Christmas toys in the summer. The NPD Group indicates in the first half of the year the industry grew by 6.5 percent or about $400 million dollars. Youth Electronics grew the fastest then up 13 percent over the same period last year.
“Technology drives the market,” Buzza remarked. Robertson agreed, “I think it’s been around for while and toy manufacturers are seeing it now and trying to commercialize on that.”
Buzza’s message to local retailers? “You got to merchandise your toys properly and you gotta be able to compete price wise with other big toy stores, brick and mortar, but also have to compete with online sales.”
As for customers, if you haven’t started shopping yet, you got another 35 days.