Wissink noted that sales figures for toys do not include video games, a growing space that could threaten to take market share as younger children put aside action figures for more screen time. "Real estate is getting smaller, but the category is growing, so the only obvious thing plugging that hole is e-commerce," Wissink said. The family, from Dallas, made a special stop at the store when they learned it was about to close. Vinanti Puri helps her children Ariyana, right, and Aryav check out the offerings at FAO Schwarz. "The FAOs and Toys "R" Us flagship stores are not the go-forward model," she said.Īlthough roughly 80 per cent of toy sales are still completed in physical stores, even Target and Walmart are downsizing shelf space for toys in favour of groceries and health and beauty aids. Wissink said toy stores have been getting squeezed out by big-box general merchandisers for years. KB Toys, a chain that at its height operated 1,300 stores in malls across 50 states, filed for bankruptcy in 2009, citing a "sudden drop" in sales. Reports have circulated since last year that Toys "R" Us is set to close as many as 100 stores, though chairman and CEO Antonio Urcelay has denied that "a significant number of stores" would close. The company said last year it was aiming to obtain nearly $1.4 billion in new loans to refinance its debt. Toys "R" Us Inc., which operates the FAO brand, announced in March that it will be packing up its flagship 110,000-square-foot Times Square location next February. "Are we shifting to e-com only? No, but how those stores are being used best now is as showrooms, or as experiential retailing." "FAO, Toys "R" Us and even Build-A-Bear are all leaving midtown, all at the same time," noted industry analyst Stephanie Wissink, managing director and senior research analyst with Piper Jaffray. In New York, though, the concept of the toy store wonderland is disappearing. It's almost like an outing, and you don't want to take the charm of looking at toys away from a child." "I want them to experience the toy store. (Matt Kwong/CBC)Įven so, Puri said she felt compelled to bring her children to the New York landmark before it closed. By the time her youngest child Aryav was born, Puri was shopping almost exclusively online for toys.Ĭhildren run across the Big Piano in New York's flagship FAO Schwarz toy store a day before the store closed. Not long ago, Vinanti Puri was taking her seven-year-old daughter Ariyana to check out the offerings at physical toy stores. Those deals, a wider product selection and the convenience of shop-at-a-click bargain hunting have put pressure on brick-and-mortar retailers. Those figures are forecasted to keep trending upwards.Īs children lined up for the last time to dance on FAO's oversized keyboard - a fixture made famous by Tom Hanks in the 1988 film Big - e-commerce juggernaut celebrated its 20th birthday by rolling out sales that it promised would be "bigger than Black Friday." NPD Group, which tracks toy industry retailing trends, estimated in 2013 that more than 20 per cent of toy purchases would be made through online channels by the end of that year. To the larger toy market, however, digital sales are the new way forward. "Just going on the internet today and picking out stuff, that's nothing." "When you're a little kid, going to the toy store is better than anything," he said. "It sucks," said Calgary tourist Boyan Demchuk, 15, who dropped by the shop with his family for one final look around. The iconic store location closes on July 15 due to rising rents and online competition, but the FAO brand said it will seek a new location in the city for a 2016 reopening. Greeters dressed as toy soldiers pose outside New York's flagship FAO Schwarz toy store in midtown Manhattan.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |