“Parents have a better idea of what their budgets are at this point, so parents will scrimp elsewhere, not on kids.” “I think its going to be weak, but I don't think its going to be the disaster it was last year,” Johnson said. That's a smaller drop than the 5 percent decline from a year ago, but still bad for a quarter when toy retailers make up to 40 percent of their annual sales. They were $9.82 billion last year, according to data from research firm NPD Group Inc. “Price is more of a driving factor this year than it was before, and we will probably get our shopping done earlier so there are more choices,” said Decatur, Ga., resident Ingrid Allstrom Anderson, 32, whose husband's engineering firm has been hurt by the long slowdown in construction.īMO Capital Markets analyst Gerrick Johnson predicts toy sales will fall 1 percent during the holiday quarter. Parents are likely to keep shopping cautiously as they worry about job security, despite an uptick in home values and a rallying stock market. Two influential lists of expected hot holiday toys show only one over $100. Toy retailers and makers plan to make the best of it by offering more deals and cut-price versions of more expensive toys that they hope will spur parents to spend even if they're scrimping elsewhere. New York | Santa's on a budget this year. Toy retailers and makers plan to offer more deals and cut-price versions of more expensive toys that they hope will spur parents to spend even if they're scrimping elsewhere.

Candy land computer game 1998