Our pal John writes:
I was due to visit Spring Fair this week, but sadly I was struck down with a post-Nuremberg lurgy (Nuremblurgy? Nurembug?), so I wasn’t able to make it. Thankfully, another member of the Toy World team was able to make the trip and reported a steady show, with several toy exhibitors happy with the level of retail interest. The dedicated Kids & Play section seems to get smaller every year, but there was also a healthy representation from toy companies in adjacent halls so, overall, there is still a respectable presence from toy companies looking to reach different retailers – small gift shops, garden centres, zoos, theme parks etc – than the accounts that come to London Toy Fair. It’s not for everyone, but for those with the right product (and the right margin capacity), there are certainly opportunities.
However, unfortunately not every visitor had a positive experience. Midco Toys’ Dave Middleton might have thought that winning the Independent Toy Retailer of the Year award would see suppliers welcoming him with open arms (that and the fact he’s a successful retailer who can shift decent volumes of product), but one particular Spring Fair exhibitor obviously didn’t read the script. If you didn’t read Dave’s LinkedIn post about his experience, it is well worth checking out. Essentially, the tl:dr is that Dave was treated appallingly by the reps from Jellycat, who made it abundantly clear that they didn’t want to engage with him in a prolonged, fairly unpleasant exchange. I have to be honest and say I wasn’t surprised when Dave told me what had happened: this company has ‘previous’ for excessive snobbery and rudeness. I gave up even bothering to try to talk to them years ago. Under Dave’s post, which has been viewed by over 30,000 people, there were numerous comments from people who have had a similar experience with this particular company (it’s obviously part of its DNA), plus a neat Mean Girls reference from Dave, and Vivid’s Darrell Jones comparing Dave to Julia Roberts from Pretty Woman…seriously, it really is worth reading the entire thread.
Read the rest–including more about LA and the TA here.
