Word: toying
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...family; Thomas Derrah mumbles his way convincingly through Margaret's stroke-victim husband Paul's virtually incomprehensible speeches. In contrast to Margaret Brennan's fruitless and overeager attempts to raise a normal family, Boo's parents, Karl and Soot, are the archetypal alcoholic husband and seriously oppressed sex-toy wife. Will Lebow, playing Boo's father, spurts a stream of obscene jokes, sexist comments and alcohol-induced insults, deftly making you want to strangle him; and Paula Plum, playing Boo's mother, giggles her way adeptly into our sympathies as Soot descends further and further into flamboyant madness...
...minute foray into the wilderness of Massachusetts, it is definitely worth it for an afternoon away from the complexity of everyday life. At Wal-Lex, it really is possible for adults to revisit the nostalgia of childhood, when winning was about getting the best plastic toy and a good time was about playing tag and trying to wreak as much havoc as possible...
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...
Even if several new toys catch fire in the shopping season that is just starting, Toys "R" Us will have to fight harder than ever for its slice of the profit. Wal-Mart's share of the $35 billion toy-retailing industry has grown from 10% in 1990 to 16% this year; over the same period Target's share has more than doubled, to 7%. The discount stores use toys as "traffic builders," attracting families with low prices on popular toys and then making higher profits on such items as clothing and appliances. "Wal-Mart and Target carry only...