Farnell Teddy Bears by Kathy Martin

Author:Kathy Martin
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781783032471
Publisher: Pen & Sword Books
Published: 2013-05-22T00:00:00+00:00

The Cheapest Soft Toys in the World

Farnell’s answer to the problem was characteristically bold. Far from reducing production, cutting overheads and waiting patiently for the economy to pick up, a strategy that the company was financially stable enough to follow, they decided to introduce a brand new line of cheap soft toys to be sold alongside their more expensive Alpha range. Launched in January 1931, the new range was called Unicorn Soft Toys, with a logo, appropriately enough, of a handsome prancing unicorn. Dogs featured heavily in the Unicorn range but as tried and trusted sellers teddy bears were also included. It was a new departure for Farnell to be marketing cut-price products and the company, anxious to protect its reputation for excellence, went to immense pains to convince potential buyers that their high standards were not compromised when manufacturing these cheaper toys. No doubt at Farnell’s suggestion, the trade press ran articles explaining that the surprisingly low prices were made possible by Farnell’s high turnover, which kept their overheads correspondingly low.

Described by Farnell in their advertisements as ‘The Cheapest Soft Toys in the World’, the whole point of the Unicorn range was to attract large orders from the sort of wholesalers who would ordinarily buy foreign imports, which tended to be less expensive than British-made toys. These wholesalers supplied the retail outlets frequented by people on lower incomes for whom Farnell’s Alpha Toys were out of reach. Thus, with the Unicorn range the plan was to grab a sizeable share of the mass market by offering quality, affordable toys. Prices – euphemistically referred to as ‘popular’ – started at one shilling and many items cost no more than five shillings, but even where higher prices were charged the toys still represented unusual value for money. To make the Unicorn products even more attractive to the wholesalers, Farnell made them unavailable to retailers, so any shop wishing to stock them had to obtain them via a wholesaler. Furthermore, the company undertook to publish in the trade press on a monthly basis a countrywide list of the wholesalers carrying the range, so every toy retailer would know where to go to obtain stock. As a final carrot, Farnell promised to provide every wholesaler with as many free illustrated catalogues as they needed to give to their customers in order to promote the range, with a blank space on the front of each catalogue for the name and address of the wholesaler.

It proved to be a brilliant and highly successful strategy, one that perfectly illustrates the reason for Farnell’s pre-eminence in the soft toy world at this time. By analysing the state of the market and identifying an opportunity to grow the business, the directors showed great commercial acumen, but their real achievement lay in having the courage to take a substantial risk in a depressed economy. Within twelve months, the gambit had paid off beyond all reasonable expectations. As new director Gerald E Beer revealed in an article in the February

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