PICKING at the PIECES
Rivals plot strategy in a post-Toys ‘R’ Us world
With just weeks left before the last Toys ‘R’ Us stores go dark, rivals are circling like vultures.
Walmart, Target, Amazon and a host of other chains — including unlikely toy destinations like Party City and Ace Hardware — have been increasing their toy orders over the past several weeks, The Post has learned.
The gathering horde hopes to profit by gobbling larger portions of the $22 billion toy industry.
Toys ‘R’ Us rang up $11.5 billion in sales in 2016 — and that business will be up for grabs starting in early July when the last of the bankrupt chain’s stores close their doors.
Walmart execs have identified 800 stores that are within a five- to 10-mile drive of a Toys ‘R’ Us location. Those stores will carry extra toy inventory in stockrooms and nearby distribution centers, sources said, with no current plans to expand toy departments.
Jay Foreman, chief executive of Basic Fun, an impulse and novelty toy outfit known for its toilet-humor Poopeez line, has benefited from Walmart’s strategy through larger orders from the Bentonville, Ark., chain, he said.
Walmart declined to comment on its plans.
“There’s a lot of scrambling going on right now,” said Bernardo Melo, vice president of global sales and marketing for Singing Machine, which sells karaoke systems.
Target, for example, “is adding space [by] cutting into some other departments,” said Melo, who was briefed on the company’s strategy.
A chain spokeswoman confirmed some stores will devote more space to toys and that this summer, for the first time, the 1,800-store retailer “is carving out sizable space for outdoor toys” like electric vehicles, bikes, play houses and pools.
The chance to pick up even a small slice of the bankrupt chain’s $11 billion in sales is attracting unlikely interested parties, sources said.
Party City buyers, possibly for the first time, attended the TTPM toy fair last week in Manhattan, lifting vendors’ hopes it will be adding gifts to its assortments of plates, napkins, balloons and party favors.
“The buzz is that they are building out a gift section,” said Hattie Grace Elliot, founder of Blankie Tails. A second toy maker said Party City is planning pop-up toy shops leading into the holidays.
Jamie Uitdenhowen, a top Toys ‘R’ Us executive, joined the 900-store Party City chain in December as chief merchandising officer.
“He has unbelievable relationships with the toy manufacturers,” said Jim Silver, president of TTPM, a toy review Web site. “Party City is going heavily into toys.”
Despite the yeoman-like efforts of chains to fill the Toys ‘R’ Us void, toy makers believe it will take until 2020 to return to 2016 sales levels.
Basic Fun’s Foreman said he expects the company to be short $12 million in sales this year.
Singing Machine’s $40 to $300 karaoke systems were displayed over 12 feet of shelves at Toys ‘R’ Us compared with two feet at Walmart and four feet at Target.