🧸 The “kidult” toy takeover
Hey Snackers,
Sugar lovers will appreciate a new take on a cereal classic. Meet the Big Fruit Loop (picture: a single giant loop). But the $20 bite isn't sold by Kellogg's, and the breakfast giant says it's trademark infringement.
Stocks ticked down yesterday, with the S&P closing at its lowest in over a month. One concern: whether the Fed's likely ongoing rate hikes could tip the US into a recession next year.
“Kidults” are driving the toy industry as older shoppers splurge on superheroes and building sets
Watch out, kids… there's a new demo taking over toy aisles this holiday szn. A recent report said "kidults" (aka people aged 12+) now make up a fourth of all US toy sales and 60% of the industry's dollar growth. FYI: People typically drop off from buying toys in their early teens, but that trend’s shifting.
- Adult prices: While US toy sales fell slightly in the first nine months of this year, inflated price tags helped to drive revenue 3% higher.
- Childhood dreams: Kidults account for just 5% of global toy sales, but generate $9B in annual revenue.
Three-hour checkout line… for an $850 Millennium Falcon Lego set. The pandemic was a boom time for the toy biz, as home-bound adults splurged on board games and 1K piece puzzles. And the popularity looks to have stuck: last year, the global toy market had its best sales in a decade, with the US driving most of the growth. Now toy makers are creating more adult-friendly products to capture grown-ups' inner child (and their wallets).
- Lego, the world’s largest toy maker, posted record sales in September as adults splurged on "Harry Potter"- and "Star Wars"-themed sets.
- Build-A-Bear says 40% of its sales now come from adults and teens, up from 20% in 2012.
- Hasbro and Mattel ramped up marketing for Disney’s Marvel superheroes figurines, and ’90s toy icons like Barbie, Pokémon, and Hot Wheels.
Toy lovers are growing up… and the industry's following suit. Serving kidults is becoming a winning strategy as they’re seen as willing to spend serious $$ on themselves. (Even McDonald’s started selling adult happy meals.) The kidult demo could be extra important for toymakers this holiday szn, as many expect the game-lovin' grown-ups to purchase toys for the kids and fellow adults in their lives.
What else we’re Snackin’
- Epic: Epic Games agreed to pay $520M after the FTC said the Fortnite maker illegally collected children's data and tricked players into making purchases. The mega-popular mobile game has 400M+ players.
- Buynance: Crypto exchange Binance.US agreed to buy the assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager for $1B+. FTX had planned to purchase those same assets in September, before it, too, fell into bankruptcy.
- Metaplace: The EU's investigating Meta over possible antitrust violations. The concern: the relationship between Facebook and Facebook Marketplace (picture: social-media-powered classified ads) could push out rivals.
- Gloom: Despite positive signs like slowing inflation, the majority of voters surveyed said they expect the economy to get worse. Last week, Fed Chair Powell said recession predictions are just that — predictions.
- Sale: Retail stores were deeply discounting inventory ahead of Christmas by as much as 60%. An industry group estimated that, as of early December, shoppers had made only about half of their holiday purchases.
Tuesday
- November housing starts and building permits
- Earnings expected from Nike, General Mills, FedEx, and Blackberry
Authors of this Snacks own: shares of Blackberry
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