Toys had a very difficult time in the US after the demise of Toys R Us. Now, after a year of slow down, it seems they are preparing for a comeback.
This is what the NPD Group projects, quoted by CNBC. “Most people thought that when Toys R Us shuttered its doors that the industry would fall apart,” said Juli Lennett, vice president and industry advisor at NPD Group. “But it didn’t, and it’s not going to.”
When Toys R Us announced its closure, that actually made toy sales jump by 7%. That’s because people were stocking up and taking advantage of the discounts. Overall though, the market for 2018 dropped by 2%.
As a result, many of the top toy companies and products took a dip. But now the market is slowly starting to rebound. The NPD Group expects that toy sales will start to revive around the end of the year and into 2020.
The analysts feel that there were plenty of movies this year to inspire toy buying. Plus, there are still a whole lot of big movies coming in the next few months. That’s including Frozen 2 and a new Star Wars installment, which are both expected to bring in big numbers.
Despite the slowdown, some toys are still making bank. LOL Surprise is among them. “L.O.L. Surprise is killing it in the category,” Lennett said. “Once those are fully stocked this year, we’re going to see great things from L.O.L. Surprise, and of course Barbie is celebrating her 60th anniversary.”
Plus, there’s the upcoming, albeit small, revival of Toys R Us. So, the toy market definitely is looking very interesting. And it’s going to be very interesting in the following months.
