Higher-priced preschool toys seen chalking up gains; audio-visual items, playsets, furniture - Toys

Discount Store News, Oct 29, 1984

Discounters and catalogers are expecting higher-priced preschool toys like audiovisual pieces, furniture and plays sets to move out of the stores this Christmas--and to remain strong sellers into 1985.

Playsets, generally priced at $15 to $20, are not new, but buyers cite modified models like Hasbro's Shuffletown Farm with its pieces attached to the board and more whimsical ones like Fisher-Price's Play Family Zoo as fostering interest in playsets in general.

Furniture, like child-size kitchen sets and indoor-outdoor clubhouses, have also been around for a while, but buyers say consumers will now spend more--some pieces are priced over $100--on sturdy toys built to last for years.

However, the newest attention-getters in preschool are the audiovisual toys that combine educational and play value. These items constitute a second tier for price points, higher than playsets, but lower than the bulky furniture not carried in some stores because of space limitations. Audiovisual toys still cost more than $20 and have generally been considered suitable for older children.

Promising Area

Buyers carying the merchandise, however, are optimistic about its success. For example, at Key Catalog Showrooms, Child Guidance's Show 'N Tell Phono Viewer, priced at $49.97 with a $10 manufacturer rebate, is "walking off the shelves," even before the item has been advertised on television, said Carl Sweat, vp, merchandising.

The cataloger is also getting good results from Alpine II, priced at $24.97, an updated version of Playskool's Alphine I, which fell off in sales last year.

ALCO buyer David Hayes will be carrying coloring or activity books with a tape or a record priced at $5 to $7 from Fisher-Price, as well as radios and record players priced at $10 to $40.

Although confident that they've created a winning mix for 1985, buyers are waiting with crossed fingers for the holiday buying season.

Sweat, at Key Catalog Showrooms, has received notice that delivery will be delayed until 1985 for both old and new products: Fisher-Price's Sky Talker walkie-talkies for $21.97 (new last year), tape ercorder for $38.84 and Music Box record player for $14.97, and Build Your Own Horn from Child Guidance for $8.97.

ALCO is also having delivery problems--"every company, every thing," said Hayes. Although Hayes hadn't planned to run holiday ads for key items, now he is pulling ads for other items, too.

One buyer for a midwest retailer said he is "pulling ads right and left" for items scheduled to run in late November and December. He now has about 50% of his holiday order, but does not know how much more he will receive. Among the items now unavailable: Fisher-Price's Play Family Zoo and Child Guidance's Speak and Learn.

Even with the delivery problems, common to most toy categories in the preholiday season, buyers still expect preschool toys to yield 10% to 25% growth in discount stores and catalog showrooms by year's end.

With most preschool sales coming from under $10 purchases, buyers are continuing to expand their assortments in that price range, too.

Sweat of Key Catalog, cashing in on the trend toward educational toys, is carrying several of these items priced below $10, including Mattel's See 'N Say Fun with Sounds for $8.97 and Talking Clock for $9.97, which were introduced last year, although they are in the 1984-85 catalog for the first time.

Preschool toys at Key Catalog Showrooms is expected to grow 20% by the end of the year, with the category accounting for about 40% of total toy sales. The Georgia-based cataloger enjoys gross margins of 27% to 28% on preschool toys, with most of its sales falling in the $9.97-and-under area.

With the category holding strong, Sweat will, for the first time, participate in a spring program with manufacturers like Fisher-Price and Child Guidance, converting the category from a seasonal to a year-round business.

Alan Fine, dmm, toys at Zayre, said his chain is experiencing "considerable growth" in the preschool area, too, with Fisher-Price, Child Guidance, Playskool and Hasbro dominating the category. Prices range from $2.99 to $20.99.

Fine is especially pleased with the playsets, like the new Fisher-Price Play Family Zoo and the Hasbro Shuffletown Farm, both retailing at $20. The playsets, priced from $15 to $20, fall within the category's best-moving price range.

Child-size furniture has also generated interest in some discount stores and catalog showrooms. One chain, Van Leunen's, is finding no resistance to the $74 Little Tikes party kitchen, and Sweat of Key Catalog Showrooms said his most popular item is the party kitchen listed in the catalog for $68.84, but promoted twice in the fall for about $50.

However, enthusiasm for the bulky pieces is not across-the-board. S. E. Nichols buyer, Joe Lavarato, said his chain will not carry the items because shipping costs are too high. Prange Way does not carry the merchandise due to space limitations, but buyer Bruce Geirz may consider it for next year.

The midwest retailer had carried some of the Little Tikes line in the spring, but it was not a success.