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Wednesday, 24 February 2010 07:15 |
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Posted February 24, 2010 Toy Fair was great; energy and optimism level high. The T.O.T.Y. awards were elegant, and Sam Walton, founder of Walmart, was named to the Toy Industry Hall of Fame, along with John Lasseter of Pixar. Now, yesterday I posed a question that was posed to me, “Why do we induct people from outside the toy industry into the Toy Industry Hall of Fame?” Why not reserve that for recognizing industry veterans, industry movers and shakers, founders of companies, and innovators of note? It's a good question I think. On behalf of the Walton family and Walmart, one of their executives gave a warm address of gratitude. She spoke eloquently about the special realationship between Walmart and the toy industry, of Walmart’s support of the toy industry, of the many toys Sam himself had in his office, and of the special emotional power of toys for the Walmart consumers. It was beautiful. I am having difficulty understanding how that is consistant with the reality that Walmart has cut their toy department and reduced toy shelf space by a reported two thirds? A 66% reduction in toys merchandised in their stores - how does that reconcile with all these warm words about Walmart's high regard, affection even, for toys and the toy industry? I am flummoxed, bamboozled, and just plain confused. Please explain this if you can?
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Bruce Lund, Founder
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That being said, I agree with Richard Gottlieb in his column about WalMart, http://www.playthings.com/blog...2821.html. Not having a selection of toys may be coming back to bite them in decreased sales overall. That families looking for a greater selection of toys went elsewhere to shop. He likened it to Sears decline in the 80's when they took out the toy departments. Sears brought back toys last year in a big way and are continuing to expand their toy selection. Perhaps WalMart will figure this out as well.