Word: toy
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
There's a kid in Alex Gonzales' seventh-grade class--we won't mention any names--who still plays with X-Men plastic action figures. "He's kind of weird," says Alex, 11, of Fontana, Calif. "None of us play with X-Men anymore. We like PlayStation better." Toy-industry experts call this "age compression"--boys shunning G.I. Joe and girls dissing Barbie at ever younger ages in favor of computer games and sporting goods. And it is just one of the obstacles confronting Toys "R" Us as the nation's No. 1 retailer of playthings tries to get itself...
This marks a sad pass for a brand name that, while dreaded by many parents, spelled excitement to a generation of kids, many of whom have kids of their own. Founded by Charles Lazarus in 1957, Toys "R" Us was the original "category killer"--industry jargon for a chain of large stores that offered low prices on almost every product and brand in its category and killed competing local retailers. (Think Home Depot or Petco.) Lazarus transformed an industry once dominated by mom-and-pop toy stores, eventually launching 1,462 Toys "R" Us outlets and gaining a 25% market...
Erik Gustafson, manager of the Steinroe Young Investor Fund, says the toy retailer and other category killers such as Circuit City and CompUSA have become victims of their own success, encouraging shoppers to expect everything to be on sale all the time. "The category killers are going to have to live with lower profit margins going forward," says Gustafson. That is good news for the consumer, but not for shareholders who have watched Toys "R" Us' stock price get cut in half over the past 12 months, to a little more than $16 a share...
Some relief could come with strong sales this fall. Generally, the fourth quarter, which includes Halloween and Christmas, accounts for half of all toy sales. But like the recording and movie industries, the toy trade is driven by hits. So far this year, "there isn't a superhit toy out there," says Eugene Gilligan, executive editor of the toy-industry trade publication Playthings. "The biggest hit for the past year has been Beanie Babies, and Toys 'R' Us doesn't even carry them." But retailers have high hopes for several potential breakout toys, from a microchip-loaded version of venerable...
...always known that Harvard has its share--if not more than its share--of people who as children preferred a trip to the bank to the toy store. As first-years they handed out business cards and smarmy handshakes and as seniors they believe the CEO of Goldman has a direct in with God himself. (As I-bankers always say, it's all about connections...