Those of us who have been in the toy community for a few years will remember the days when the biggest thing happening across the toy market in July and August was the launch of the Argos catalogue. Eagerly awaited by consumers, suppliers and retailers alike, release day would see thousands of people rush to pick up a copy… and then the fun really began. I knew certain sales directors who would deliberately book a two-week holiday to avoid taking calls from certain other major toy buyers, incandescent with rage over some of the deals, exclusives and pricing in the catalogue. Suppliers would only find out how their ranges had been priced when they saw the printed catalogue, not before. Crazy times.
Those days won’t come back of course, but this year, Argos has decided to ‘reimagine’ the catalogue in what it describes as an “updated version… in a digital-first format, catering to consumer demand for editorial style inspiration and open-ended product discovery”. I haven’t had a chance to peruse it yet, but it will be interesting to see what effect it will have on Argos’ toy sales over the coming months. Naturally, it won’t have the seismic impact that the old catalogue used to have, but other toy retailers will be relieved that Argos hasn’t brought the physical version back, as the likes of Smyths, The Entertainer and Toymaster have moved smartly to fill that gap in recent years.
And in breaking news this morning, Sainsbury’s has confirmed that it has sold Argos to Swift Partners in a £120m deal due to be completed in February, allowing it to concentrate on its core supermarket business. It appears to be business as usual in many respects: Argos will still be located within Sainsbury’s stores, and no job losses or store closures are expected. And as one toy executive pointed out this morning, “at least it wasn’t Joybuy.” Sainsbury’s paid £1.4b for Argos back in 2016. No further comment m’lud.
Speaking of a “digital format offering open-ended product discovery”, the August issue of Toy World is now available to read online. We may be in the depths of summer, but there is still plenty happening in the world of toys.
Read the rest here.
