The German bookstore chain Mayersche Buchhandlung has made especially good progress in this regard: no other book retailer or bookstore chain puts as much effort into its game and toy business. The share of sales generated by the company in these segments was still below the ten-percent mark as of recently, but who knows: “Teddy & Co.”, the brand under which Mayersche consolidates all of its toy activities, is rapidly increasing its reach. The company converted further shop space last year to ensure a suitable offering for customers in every one of its 55 stores. Indeed, to a grand scale in eight of these – in Aachen, Bochum, Dortmund, Duisburg, Düsseldorf, Essen, Cologne and Trier, the bookstore chain devotes 200 to 1,000 square metres to games and toys. Monika Kloss, who manages the segments centrally, states: “In many cities, Mayersche is often not only the largest bookstore, but also the largest toy seller in the area – many toy retailers have already moved away from top city centre locations.” If the bookstore chain soon completes its merger with Thalia, another big German bookstore chain, it might provide fresh impetus for the whole business segment: subject to the competition authorities approving the merger deal announced in January, a new book retailing giant will emerge – collectively, the two companies are currently in almost 290 locations across Germany.

More expertise, more sales

However, Mayersche and Thalia are not alone in their search for useful additions to their ranges – this is something that concerns everyone, including the countless smaller booksellers: just as it is a given for toy retailers to sell books nowadays, many bookshops offer toys and games. They know there are things they need to be aware of when it comes to these. Some are already investing in further training or attending seminars offered by manufacturers as well as the Spielwarenmesse toy fair in Nuremberg. Consequently, the organisers of the fair have been rolling out the red carpet for them for the last two years with its “Toys meet Books” offering: some 15 suppliers showcased a selection of their products in 2019 at the special show aimed at booksellers, located right behind the highly frequented Entrance Mitte, and a flyer listing the 150 potentially most important (international) exhibitors for them was produced. Booksellers were also offered practical presentations from expert speakers with whom they could subsequently book one-to-one speed coaching sessions. Christian Ulrich, Marketing Director for the Spielwarenmesse, is unequivocal: “This year we were especially pleased with the considerable increase in trade visitors from the German and European book trade in particular”, he emphasised. “More and more book retailers are recognising the appeal of including toys in their range as a means of generating lucrative additional sales.”