USA TODAY International Edition
‘ Star Wars’ toys storm the mall
Toy retailers devoting marketing dollars, floor space to Star Wars
Sorry Elsa, but Chewie, Yoda and the gang are back and taking over the holiday shopping season.
With the Dec. 18 movie release of Star Wars: The Force
Awakens, some retailers stand to gain a fourth- quarter sales uptick as they make a major marketing investment and dedicate significant floor space to new toys, apparel, games and even home decor tied to the movie.
Walmart is “planning it bigger than Frozen,” says Anne Marie Kehoe, the company’s vice president of toys.
The Sept. 4 Force Friday events, where Star Wars products were introduced to much fanfare at midnight store openings, were only round one. With more toys expected to come out in the next few months, retailers are gearing up for holiday sales aided by the rebirth of one of the most popular franchises in history.
“This is going to be a blockbuster merchandise event,” says Joel Bines, managing director in the retail practice at consulting firm AlixPartners. “You will not be able to avoid Star Wars merchandise. It will be impossible this holiday season.”
For this round of Star Wars merchandise, new technology and increased competition among toymakers have upped the game. There are customizable lightsabers, an interactive talking Yoda doll, a BB- 8 toy droid and bigger action figures that have lights, sound and movement.
For the toy industry, which does 70% of its sales in the last two months of the year, the new
Star Wars movie is a big deal, says Jim Silver, CEO and editor in chief of TTPM, a website that reviews kids’ products.
Since Force Friday, Toys R Us has indefinitely dedicated twice as much floor space as normal to
“You will not be able to avoid ‘ Star Wars’ merchandise. It will be impossible this holiday season.”
Joel Bines, of the consulting firm AlixPartners
Star Wars merchandise, anticipating additional rollouts as more movies are released in the coming years. Walmart has another round of events planned for the weekend of Nov. 15.
“When you look at the next five years and all of the different products, this is a multibilliondollar proposition,” Silver says. “So it’s extremely important. The amount of room given to Star
Wars at retailers is much greater than ever before.”
Target has life- size Chewbacca cardboard cutouts that growl when you walk past and a dedicated display for everything
Star Wars. “We feel the Star Wars film will be the big pop culture moment of 2015. It is definitely a strong, strong component of the holiday,” spokesperson Lee Henderson said.
The Disney Store plans to keep interactive in- store “theaters” — 90- inch screens where customers can watch music videos, movie trailers and film clips — set to the new Star Wars movie through December and will keep introducing products even after the movie comes out, says Elissa Margolis, senior vice president of Disney Store North America.
Retailers have a lot on the line. Toys R Us has been working on the new line of products for several years, says Richard Barry, global chief executive of merchandising. Kehoe says that given the late- December movie release, Walmart hopes to see continued momentum through January, a typically slow sales month, when kids will be armed with gift cards and still excited about the film.
Retailers are also in a position to capitalize on the broader appeal of the latest Star Wars installment as it brings a new generation into its fandom, Kehoe says. Disney has helped with that by going beyond Star Wars nerd culture, striking licensing deals with companies including Pottery Barn, J. Crew and Cover Girl to sell merchandise such as a children’s bed in the shape of the Millennium Falcon cockpit, hipster T- shirts and a makeup line inspired by the movie.
Sales of Star Wars merchandise are expected to generate $ 3 billion in 2015, according to a Piper Jaffray research note. An estimate by Macquarie Research puts that figure at $ 5 billion. But for a $ 3.5 trillion annual retail industry, Star Wars isn’t a make- it or break- it deal, Bines says.
“You love this if you’re the toy buyer,” Bines says. “But if you’re the CEO, you’re not building your entire holiday plan around this launch.”