Predicting a merry season for toy market

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Danette Breitenbach

Redgwoods, owner of Reggie's, Toys R Us and Baby and Company, expects booming business this festive season as evidenced by October sales which kick-started the final quarter of the year with record sales.

The company said figures for October were 14% higher compared to the same month last year.

"October recorded the highest turnover in the history of the company," said Issy Zimmerman, a director at Redgwoods. "We also had another little record when on 28 October we opened three stores, the first time we have opened that many on a single day."

In all, the company opened six stores and refurbished its flagship global brand store - Toys R Us in Canal Walk, Cape Town - this year.

Zimmerman expects impressive sales in the gaming category with a dominance over the handheld market (portable gaming consoles such as Nintendo DS/Nintendo DSI and Sony PSP).

Sombre 2010 sales

Reflecting on the year, Zimmerman said the FIFA 2010 world cup had a mixed impact on business with sales slowing in June as South Africans spent their discretionary income on match tickets, souvenirs and keep-sakes.

Coupled with extended trading hours at super-regional malls, which yielded little benefit in terms of turnover increases but increased operating costs, expenses were under tremendous pressure over this period.

"We effectively lost the winter school holidays traditionally a very buoyant trading period in our stores. Nevertheless, we had a late burst in spending in late July 2010, which more than made up for the sombre June 2010."