Local toy shops are seeing a growing interest in non-Chinese products after millions of toys made in China were recalled over the last several months.
“At least every day someone comes in and wants something that’s not made in China,” said Laura Grossi, manager of Arlington retailer Kinder Haus Toys.
Grossi said her store has increased its German- and American-made merchandise this season because of the demand. She has seen a slow increase in sales, with the holiday rush starting in earnest last weekend.
Nationwide, 58 percent of Americans said they were making a serious effort to avoid products made in China this holiday season, according to a study by the Harrison Group, a market research firm based in Waterbury, Conn. About 1,300 people were surveyed in late September and early October.
“This has really created a storm of concern,” said Jim Taylor, vice chairman of the Harrison Group. Anyone who has toys that aren’t from China “will have a good Christmas,” he said. Some local stores sell only products that are made under the watchful eye of independent observers.
“We don’t sell mass-market” toys, said Charlie Majdi, owner of One Two Kangaroo Toys in Arlington. His toys come from China, Germany, France, Sweden and several other countries, and he said he has never had a product recalled.
Majdi expects a “strong Christmas,” and he’s “ordered accordingly.”
Toy stores would do best to “diversify” their offerings to include clothes and books, said Steven Posavac, associate professor of marketing at Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management.
Tree Top Kids, which has seven stores in the Washington area, also sells books, clothes and educational games. The company has noticed significant “increased interest” in specialty toy stores, said vice president of marketing Catherine Porterfield.
Even though some customers will be “avoiding Chinese toys altogether,” it’s still too early to estimate how many will, Posavac said.
Online toy company eToys.com, which carries more than 24,000 toys, has seen an “increase in traditional classic toys” such as wooden toy sets, but not an “extreme shift in buying patterns,” said spokeswoman Sheliah Gilliland.
