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Kent Miller

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[email protected]

(425) 449-3646

See All Staff Page
Recent Stories
2020 was a crazy year for the toy industry, too

"It's been a challenging nine months," said Aaron Muderick, founder of Crazy Aaron's Thinking Putty in Norristown, Pa. On a positive note, harried parents coping with quarantined kids fueled strong growth in puzzles, games, and arts and crafts. Meanwhile, the industry is still experiencing disruptions that began with the shutdown of Chinese factories in January.

Tariffs, other unknowns keep toy industry on edge

Sales in the first six months of the year fell 9 percent from the same period in 2018, when thrifty parents stocked toy chests with bargain-priced goods from shuttering Toys R Us stores, market research firm The NPD Group reports. But third-quarter sales edged up 3 percent to $3.69 billion.

Toys“R”Us® returns today with the opening of its first new U.S. retail store at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey. Back just in time for the holiday season, the iconic brand will bring the magic of play to kids and families with the latest, most popular toy products and brands, carefully curated and showcased in highly experiential smaller-format spaces.
Toys R Past Tense

Last year, the toy industry woke up in a world without Toys R Us.

Online fakes bedevil toy titans

Nowadays, it's tough for customers to know if that prize toy sold online is genuine or a cheap knock-off.

From California, tips on coping with bag-ban fever

Once at loggerheads, Golden State plastics groups and environmentalists have increasingly worked together to focus on practical results.

Recycling infrastructure underfunded, industry leaders say

"The consumer has been shielded from the cost of recycling," said Bruce Magnani of Houston Magnani & Associates. Government incentives a key to filling the funding gap.

Taiwanese TPU extrusion firm boosts presence in US

Taiwanese thermoplastic polyurethane extruder DingZing Advanced Materials Inc. has entered the US market by opening an 80,000-square-foot warehouse near its US offices in Secaucus, N.J.

Taiwan's LCY Chemical goes private

Private equity firm KKR && Co. Inc. has taken LCY Chemical Corp. private in a stock exchange and purchase transaction that values the Taiwanese polypropylene producer at TW$47.8 billion (US$1.56 billion).

Global brands, costs push Chinese toy molder to Indonesia

Pushed by global toy brands looking to diversify their supply chains, Chinese injection molder and toy maker Combine Will Industrial Co. Ltd. has opened a factory in Indonesia, its first outside its home market.

In Hong Kong, testing times for toy makers

Rogue toymakers, test-happy executives, countries disagreeing about what a reasonable risk for kids is and, oh yes, yet another casualty of the U.S. government shutdown.

Rough sailing at Hong Kong Toy Fair

Amid positive news at the massive Hong Kong Toys && Games Fair — Hong Kong's exports of toys jumped 8.6 percent in the first eight months of 2018 to $4.1 billion — industry nabobs and show-floor exhibitors alike fretted over navigating the increasingly choppy oceans of the world economy.

Potential tariffs loom large over toy industry

Thus far most toys have not been included in the Trump administration's China tariffs. But with 85 percent of U.S. toys coming from Chinese factories, the industry's concerned over plans by President Trump to slap tariffs on more Chinese imports.

Retail changes altering toy packaging

Thanks to the unstoppable rise of online shopping, shelf appeal is losing out to more practical concerns when it comes to designing and packaging goods.

Toys R Us bankruptcy tsunami tests toy business

Like a big kid belly-flopping into a kiddie pool, the Toys R Us Inc. bankruptcy sent massive waves through the toy industry this year.

Taiwan's FCS looks to tap Europe

On its second showing at Fakuma, longtime Taiwanese injection press maker Fu Chun Shin Machinery Manufacture Co. Ltd. is pitching European-level service and support at an economical price point.

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