"The only reason I'm
thinking about Christmas early is because of the strike at the loading
docks" said parent Lynne Banki. "I was concerned there'd be a short supply
of a lot of the things that are made outside the country."
Banki's 5-year-old
son wants a Rescue Hero action figure, predicted to be one of this year's
hot sellers.
Just in case they
run out, she is buying it today.
Retail giant Target
is quick to point out that the company knew there would be problems at
the ports, so they ordered early.
"We are anticipating
the Kinderbot to be a big seller," said Rena Smith of Target. "We also
anticipate Harry Potter action figures with the movie coming out. Yu-Gi-Oh
action figures as well."
The only item in short
supply are Christmas stuffed animals, and those are due by mid- November.
Smaller toy stores
could be more vulnerable, if they weren't able to build up inventory.
"The backlog at the
port is supposed to be emptied out by around Thanksgiving," said Greg
Mangan, an associate professor of operations management. "If it happens
a couple days later, those smaller retailers will lose another couple
days of the Christmas season."
It wasn't just retailers
anticipating port problems. Suppliers did too.
Toy company Mattel
-- who hopes you'll load up on big seller "Rapunzel Barbie" -- is flying
in games and toys. That gets their products on the shelves now.
Anything stuck at
the waterfront will restock the shelves later in the season.
Bottom line: Toy stores
say don't worry about what happened at the ports. Your biggest problem
might be competing with shoppers who are already filling their Christmas
lists.
Adding to the competition:
Thanksgiving falls a little late this year, so the traditional shopping
season is at least four days shorter than normal.
So it might not be
the port backlog at all, but the calendar that has you rushing your holiday
shopping.
