SIC 5092 Toys and Hobby Goods and Supplies
SIC 5092
This category includes establishments primarily engaged in the wholesale distribution of games, toys, hobby goods and supplies, dolls, craft kits, model kits, children's vehicles, fireworks, and playing cards.
421920
Toy and Hobby Goods and Supplies
On June 1, 2001, the International Council of Toy Conferences announced that toy sales worldwide reached $69.5 billion. In 2001, the American toys and hobby goods wholesaling industry was composed of 3,025 establishments. The industry employed about 36,890 workers. In 2003, there were a total of 31,100 establishments that generated about $27,883.60 million. The toy and hobby goods and supplies represented 27 percent of the total market, or 8,380 establishments. The majority of the industry was located in California, Florida, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Washington.
Wholesale distributors of toys experienced a shrinking customer base in the early 1990s, as national toy store chains and discount stores began to buy directly from manufacturers. Sales in the mid-1990s continued to grow, up by 20 percent from 1992 to $20 billion. However, since 1992 expenses have been rising faster than sales. While toy distributors were once the most important customers at toy fairs, Toys 'R' Us became the leading toy retailer in the mid-1990s and had the most purchasing clout with toy manufacturers, accounting for 20 percent of U.S. toy sales in 1996. Sydney Ladensohn Stern and Ted Schoenhaus, authors of Toyland: The High Stakes Game of the Toy Industry, wrote that toy manufacturers referred to the wholesale distributors as "dinosaurs because they used to be the toy company's most powerful customers, and today they are almost extinct." However, wholesale distributors of toys continue to supply smaller, independent toy stores and department stores, and still regarded their industry as playing a pivotal role in the toy marketplace.
Even toy specialty retailers were not immune to a shifting market, however. By 1998, Toys 'R' Us had been surpassed by Wal-Mart as leading toy retailer. Wal-Mart commanded 17.4 percent of the market, while Toys 'R' Us dropped to 16.8 percent of the market.
Acknowledging changes in the marketplace, the Toy Wholesalers Association changed its name to the Toy and Hobby Wholesalers Association in 1989. Like wholesalers in other industries, toy and hobby wholesalers refocused their business to provide value-added services generally not offered by manufacturers.
Consolidation of toy manufacturers and retailers meant massive changes for the distribution network of the toy industry. Eliminating the added...
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