Why you should buy from small toy shops, not Wal-Mart

Posted Dec 8th 2007 11:09AM by Peter Cohan
Filed under: Wal-Mart (WMT)

The Boston Globe reports that shoppers are buying toys for their children at small stores and avoiding Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT) whose Chinese toys they fear.

One Cambridge, MA store, Stellabella Toys, has shifted its merchandise suppliers from Chinese to European and U.S. toy makers. Stellabella bought as many LEGO toys (made in Denmark) and Playmobil products (made in Germany) as possible. And it added new lines, including German stacking toys and wooden trains from Maple Landmark Woodcraft of Vermont.

More than 65% of consumers will refuse to buy toys from China this season. This hurts Wal-Mart which offers cheaper prices by importing Chinese merchandise. That's because 80% of all US toys are manufactured in China, where they are cheaper to produce. It is more likely that the Chinese toys will end up in mass merchants like Wal-Mart, which often carry large volumes of toys.

I don't know if Wal-Mart will start buying safe toys -- its purchasing volume could drive down the prices and thus bring back some of those shoppers. But in the meantime, you can check out the toys sold by small stores like Stellabella. At least it's supplying what American shoppers want -- safe toys for their families.

Peter Cohan is President of Peter S. Cohan & Associates. He also teaches management at Babson College and edits The Cohan Letter. He has no financial interest in Wal-Mart.

Print this

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

12-08-2007 @ 12:06PM

Mike said...

People are always beating up Walmart. The union leadership and Dudley Doright politicals just want a piece of their pie and all the sheep follow. I love Walmart. Thank goodness for Walmart, otherwise I would be left to shopping with small town merchants who don't carry the right inventory, close early, and act arrogant. People who critisize Walmart, in general, just are bandwagoneers who don't have a clue.

12-08-2007 @ 4:47PM

Dragonwych said...

Actually, anyone who defends WalMart hasn't done his or her homework. Thousands of jobs have been sent out of the US because of WalMart's low price demands to manufacturers and, because WM is the 800-pound gorilla in the room, it gets what it wants. Of course, WM and the like kindly replaced the lost skilled jobs with thousands of minimum wage positions in their stores. The poisonous toy problem is shared by greedy and/or ignorant Chinese entrepeneurs, companies who subbed out production to them, and damn-the-consequences-give-me-low-prices types (which includes both retailers and consumers). Pollution in China, much of it caused by WM-driven factories, is so bad that it's been recorded in California. Those small businesses you turn your nose up at are owned by your neighbors. WM is not. WM destroys businesses, and not just the small, local ones. It has targeted, and intends to go right on targeting, various companies for destruction. Been to Eagle Market lately? Tweeter's? Cub Foods?

Most of this information applies to other ubiquitous mega-retailers as well. Do we really need a Lowe's, a Walgreen's, a Home Depot, and a WalMart on every corner?

In the end, the problem is American super-consumers. If we quit buying what we don't need, quit living on credit, started behaving responsibly toward each other, our communities, our planet, amazing things would start to happen. We just might find our way back to the great nation we once were. Start by kicking the WalMart habit. You're saving far less than you think, and the cost of your savings is staggering.

12-08-2007 @ 1:06PM

kmasa said...

I'm all for cheaper prices, but safety always comes first. No excuse by the toy companies or the Chinese mfg not to have known the "mfg guidelines" that's been in place for a long time regarding the use of "paint containing lead". I refuse to believe their ignorance, but it's NOT just the Chinese, but also the lack of QA by the toy companies have become obvious in the recent months. So, what's next?!

12-08-2007 @ 2:41PM

Brockage said...

Not to worry Mike. It's all about union organizing. The unions want Wal-Mart and are trying to "to destroy it in order to save it" for themselves. If Wal-Mart went union tomorrow, the attacks would go silent. What they don't know is that rank and file shop at Wal-Mart -- I know because I do the driving for my pals and seniors too. The union organizers and "true believers" are way off on this one, out of touch with ordinary Americans doing their weekly shopping.

12-08-2007 @ 4:46PM

Dragonwych said...

You couldn't be more wrong, Brockage. I hate unions as much as I hate WalMart, and for similar reasons -- they are good only for themselves, not for the country nor even for their members. I grew up in union territory, and watched them greedily, or stupidly, cost workers thousands of jobs, destroy entire companies, entire industries.

12-08-2007 @ 5:01PM

Brockage said...

On unions I guess we agree; on Walmerica, I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree Dragonwych. Half a loaf is good enough for me.

12-09-2007 @ 7:52AM

Mike said...

So what happens when that little mom n' pop store owned by your neighbor becomes successful?

What if it, in fact, becomes so successful that it opens branches throughout your city and state?

What if it then continues to grow throughout the country...and even expands overseas?

That's what happened to a little Mom N' Pop known as Walton's 5 and Dime from Bentonville, AR.

The consumer is king. Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.

12-09-2007 @ 10:28AM

Jack Lousteau said...

Are there even Walmarts in the Boston area? I thought they remained in the midwest & south. They sell the same stuff as small stores like Tory's R Us.

12-10-2007 @ 10:57AM

Gr33ngurl said...

This is the case of consumers voting with their dollars. And who can blame them? The prevalence of unsafe toys at Walmart is a direct result of their pressure on Chinese suppliers -- quality assurance was sacrificed in the name of saving a few pennies.

Now, the pressure is being exerted on Walmart by consumers -- in the name of demanding safety and quality over saving a few pennies.

Oh the irony.

If shopping at mom and pops works as a tactic and Walmart is forced to raise quality and safety, my faith in the free market will be restored. If it doesn't work, and Walmart is still slacking, then lets let the government take a crack at holding these folks accountable.

12-10-2007 @ 11:19AM

sharon said...

Saftey of our children should be the main issue, even though 85% of Wal-Mart's vendors are from China. It is our government's fault for not catching this sooner. Our government should have kept a closer inspection of shipments coming into its ports.

12-11-2007 @ 10:27AM

W F said...

Consumers for years have been demanding lower and lower prices. The result of this is goods have to be manufactured in China and elsewhere overseas. But apparently these low prices are now coming with a HUGE price tag. Many things being manufactured there are now unsafe.
It is unfortunate but Wal-Mart and other large big box stores have become a cancer. They destroy everything in their path. Big box stores have successfully lowered the wages they pay, paying many employees poverty wages. They offer little or no health coverage. And they have forced many manufacturers to go overseas, closing up many factories making American products, and putting those who worked there out of work.
Those who shop at Wal-Mart should realize that every time they purchase something there, they are putting another American out of work. According to a PBS documentary titled "Is Wal-Mart Good For America?" we are exporting 3 Billion dollars worth of raw materials to China, and importing 36 Billion in finished goods for sale here.
Whose fault is it that we are now dealing with unsafe toys from China? If Chinese made stuff hadn't been purchased in the beginning, we wouldn't have the problem we do now. By the way according to that PBS documentary, Chinese made junk has been sold by Wal-Mart since the early 1990's. The solution? Stop buying the stuff folks. But don't stop buying temporarily. Stop buying it permanently. Read your labels. Know where something came from.