Countdown for big night begins

Judging for the Toy Retailer of the Year awards has pared down the entrants to a list of 17 retailers who will go forward to the next stage, which will see them visited by a specialist mystery shopper firm which will compile a final verdict on their in-store offering.

Author:: ToyNews Online
Publish date:: Nov 30, 2005
Social count:: 0

The awards cover multiples and independents in four regions - Scotland and Northern England; Wales, the Midlands and Anglia; Southern England and the Channel Islands and Ireland. While Toys R Us and Woolworths will select their own nominations as part of the major awards, the independent sector has now been shortlisted to the following stores:

Toy City, Sligo; Toyztore, Newry; Kidzone Toymaster, Dundalk; Fenwicks, Brent Cross; Enchanted World, Guildford; Formative Fun, Worcester; The Entertainer, Salisbury; The Entertainer, Cardiff (Queen’s Arcade); The Entertainer, Crawley; Greens Toymaster, Harrogate; Jac in a Box, Macclesfield; Toyworld, Skipton; ELC, Bangor; ELC, Sunderland; Richards of Abergavenny; Moons Toymaster, Newmarket and Starlings Toymaster, Dereham.

The final judging will take place in January with the awards presented at the TRA awards dinner on January 26th at Toy Fair.

Newry-based independent Toyztore has won the Toy Retailers Association’s Toy Retailer of the Year award.

Latest figures from Retail FootFall Index show heavily discounted prices lure shoppers to the High Street at last.

WIll it be TMX Elmo? Butterscotch? Dr Who? Could Bandai's latest Tamagotchi even take the biggest honour for a second year running? All will be revealed at the UK toy trade's premier evening event on Thursday January 25th.

ToyNews is again the exclusive trade media sponsor for the TRA's annual Toy Awards party in January.

After a well-publicised teaser campaign, Mattel has finally unveiled its big hope for Christmas - T.M.X Elmo - at a launch event in Hamleys.

Irish chain opens first store this week, more to come over next three weeks.

Following the film’s record-breaking opening weekend at the box office, toy suppliers are reporting strong sales of Pirates of the Caribbean products with Vivid, in particular, extremely upbeat about the licence.

Vivid is launching a new range of toddler Crayola products next spring ? Crayola Beginnings.

Vivid is Britain’s biggest toy company and the 20 largest in the world. With offices across the globe, they sell an amazing portfolio of toys and games to over 60 countries. Vivid is best known for its association with blockbuster brands and is very excited about future opportunities around the world.

Liberty

Liberty House Toys have been appointed as the exclusive UK distributor for the BiOBUDDi brand, and we are pleased to introduce this new unique, innovative and exciting range of 100% environmentally-friendly toy building blocks. We are seeking experienced sales agents with existing network in the toy retail market.

Our client is a privately owned French toy and games manufacturer which sells through distributors in forty countries. The company develops and sells innovative electronic interactive toys and games for the educational and gaming markets, and also takes suitable licenses. To progress its successful business development a Head of Product Development & Marketing is to to recruited.

The Contract System Coordinator is a newly created role to support the deal term entry process into Mattel’s new Contract Management System for its Licensing business. The role will support the Business Teams at the Deal & Amendment phase of the contracting process and act in conjunction with the System Administration team.