Playmobil USA's treatment of small toy stores

[Ismene]

Theres a really small little toy store in our local mall that carries a lot of Playmobil and I want to shop there to keep them thriving, but at the same time they dont do discounts toward it like TRU does, they wont honor TRU buy one get one half off sales either. And when your a single mom whose buying these things for their son, well, any sales I can get help out. If they'd just honor the same sales as TRU I would GLADLY go there instead! But the buy one get one half off/ buy 2 get 1 free sales really help. Sucks

They probably can't afford to offer the same sort of sales.

[Wesley Myers]

I often think that too (they can't afford it).  Then I see so many small shops hiring employees instead of the owners actually running their own shops!

They want to reap the profits, but do not want to put in the work.  That's not half as bad as how they want a living wage from the shop, but then expect to hire workers for a pittance.  (just because an employee is young or uneducated, does not make it right to not pay them a living wage - that's exploitation)

If the owners work the shop, then I will buy from the shop.

[bonniebeth]

All the small toy stores around here are really run by the owners; they are there pretty much every day. And the employees are people the same age as the owners who have been there forever, mostly. But still, there's no way the mom-and-pops can afford to offer the deals TRU does. And they don't get the same cooperation from the company. Playmobil really throws them under the bus, unfortunately, with huge minimums for orders. They just can't sell enough of it. And also, TRU gets early exclusives and they don't.

[Wesley Myers]

That makes me think of an excellent idea. Since Playmobil owes so much, at least historically, to small shops, they should produce exclusives (they don't need to be big sets) for SMALL shops!

[bonniebeth]

Yes, I wish they would. I was just thinking that the other day. That might get them back in the good graces of the mom-and-pop stores. I know the coalition of small toy stores that covers my area and a huge section of the country have all agreed not to order playmobil this year, even though many of the shop owners are themselves big fans of it. I'd love to see them do something to change that.

Sorry for the off-topic. Perhaps we should discuss ideas for this in the "brainstorming" board.

[Wesley Myers]

I know the coalition of small toy stores that covers my area and a huge section of the country have all agreed not to order playmobil this year, even though many of the shop owners are themselves big fans of it.

Wow!  The company's just digging their own grave.

The saddest part of it all is that they will not even admit they are doing it to themselves.  I would also bet that Horst Brandstatter has NO IDEA of what his employees are doing to sink the ship.

[sysliana]

Yeah, I just called the small toy store in the mall to see if they were ordering, or going to order any of the series 4 of 5 figures. They said they werent sure. They have to buy so many and the last time I was there they still had like 30 left over series 3 boys and girls. He also said if they did it wont be until their Christmas order, because they have to buy 30,000$ minimum. Thats rediclous. And I agree about not giving them the same benefits as places like TRU. When I asked  if they would honor TRU sales they just said they couldnt afford it.  So instead, they lose my business all together, when I would be willing to shell out a good 20-30$ a paycheck there, on top of a good $400 I spent for Christmas. All at TRU. A) Because of Layaway, and being able to make payments, and B) The BOGO sales. And it sucks, because they are VERY nice and helpful people.
 
Christmas & Birthday List

Castle
Air Plane
TRex and Volcano
camp set
Flying dinosaur
Jetski and convertible
Speedboat
motorcycle dude from Dino set

[Jay]

This is not just a brand new problem with them and retailers.  About 7 or 8 years back they were doing a big travelling display, almost a playground, that was going to a few malls in the country, and the one that they chose in the Chicago area was a class 'B' mall, not easy to get to or close to anything, and had no store in the mall that sold PMB or any place close to the mall.  And, of course, no stand alone shop for the event.
The young girls who were working the event, from the company hq in NJ had no idea about the sets they were selling, or much else.
Then there was the huge store in Orlando that was supposed to reopen. 6 or 7 years ago. And is the one in NJ still going?
I've found the phone customer service is down considerbly also from some years ago.  The US end of the company sure isn't doing much to help spred the word around.  Not that they are entirely to blame by any means.

[bonniebeth]

Decided to split this to brainstorming, because I think we all probably have a lot of ideas on how playmobil could improve their customer service, especially in the USA, and also on how they could treat the mom-and-pop stores better.

PM USA definitely has some issues when it comes to marketing and customer service. It's like nobody even cares about the brand or takes any pride in it. Really, even from an objective point of view, Playmobil is a great toy, made in Europe, not with child labor, of exceptional quality and enduring appeal. How can employees take so little pride in a toy like that?

[Ismene]

Oh, look we moved.

I often think that too (they can't afford it).  Then I see so many small shops hiring employees instead of the owners actually running their own shops!

They want to reap the profits, but do not want to put in the work.  That's not half as bad as how they want a living wage from the shop, but then expect to hire workers for a pittance.  (just because an employee is young or uneducated, does not make it right to not pay them a living wage - that's exploitation)

If the owners work the shop, then I will buy from the shop.

But at the same time, they are creating jobs. And speaking as a young, overly educated person, if I could get a minimum wage job with decent hours selling Playmobil, I'd take it. Substitute teaching pays a bit more, but the hours are irregular. There just aren't many entry-level jobs out there outside of retail, even (especially?) for those with a lot of education.

One of the best parts of collecting Playmobil when I was younger was finding it in small stores. Toys 'R Us and Costco just don't have that charm and service. The main thing is that they need to adjust the minimum order according to the size of the store. $30,000 is just too huge of a risk for a small store to take on a product that isn't well known here. As I said earlier, a cute little toy store just opened up near my house, but they don't carry Playmobil; Lego, yes, but no Playmobil. I don't even think they'd have space for $30,000 worth of Playmobil.