IKEA's physical presence only works because they are sole and best-priced supplier of what they offer. Don't build a retail business on the premise that people will want what they handle in the store right now instead of saving a few bucks ordering it online from elsewhere.
The underlying price of the real estate to the revenue brought in by a toys-based sales funnel simply makes these locations untenable to flog products that can be sourced online for cheaper. You need a hell of a lot of sales volume to keep up, and online took away enough volume to starve these models.
The parenting culture is also wise to the models that are built around "hook 'em young and get them to insist on instant gratification". Look inside parenting forums and you'll see a shift in shopping habits, where toy stores are deliberately and consciously avoided precisely because parents are annoyed at the effects.
Personally, I'd rather see more parents teaching children through involvement in daily activities than throwing more toys (including computer and video time) at their children. We're "over-toyed", over-retailed, and "under-practicum'd".
Good point. I've got two young kids, they're not particularly over-toyed but over the years the collection has grown.
My wife got fed up with the toys not being put away so she put all the toys in the attic.
The kids now play with the boxes, turns out they didn't even need the toys.
"toy stores are deliberately and consciously avoided precisely because parents are annoyed at the effects"
This. I have a few kids of my own and make a point to never go with them to toy stores - they go crazy from looking at all the possible options and end up being unhappy because no matter what we end up buying, there is a gazillion things we ended up not getting.
Much better to get ideas from wherever (window shopping, other kids, forums, etc) and buy online - free no hassle / screaming delivery.
Even if you end up getting not the "perfect" toy they would have picked, it's a superior shopping experience for the adult.
The underlying price of the real estate to the revenue brought in by a toys-based sales funnel simply makes these locations untenable to flog products that can be sourced online for cheaper. You need a hell of a lot of sales volume to keep up, and online took away enough volume to starve these models.
The parenting culture is also wise to the models that are built around "hook 'em young and get them to insist on instant gratification". Look inside parenting forums and you'll see a shift in shopping habits, where toy stores are deliberately and consciously avoided precisely because parents are annoyed at the effects.
Personally, I'd rather see more parents teaching children through involvement in daily activities than throwing more toys (including computer and video time) at their children. We're "over-toyed", over-retailed, and "under-practicum'd".