Jay Foreman, CEO at Basic Fun!, talks about COVID-19 disruptions and supply chain shortages in the Toy Book’s annual State of the Industry Q&A.
The Toy Book: In what ways did you feel supported by your community, government, or toy industry groups throughout 2021?
Jay Foreman: What happened in the U.S. in 2020 related to COVID-19 was a pure disaster from the start. To have an administration that pretended this pandemic would magically go away, that messaged the concept of wearing a protective mask as being unmanly and unnecessary, and basically lying about almost every aspect of the problem was a catastrophe and tragedy. Leadership in my home state of Florida was no better. The work done supporting the development of the vaccine was the one bright spot for the last administration; it’s just a crime they didn’t get behind getting people vaccinated from the start aggressively. The former president’s supporters still “boo” him at rallies when he mentions he’s vaccinated! The problems with the supply chain began toward the end of 2020, and it never got the attention of the administration.
In 2021, the efforts around COVID-19 were much improved and the rollout of the vaccines and general opening of the country went well. At the same time, the messaging from the current administration is erratic and ineffective as it is incapable of communicating to those resistant to solving the real problem, which is vaccination and mask-wearing when necessary. The whole country has not yet bought into the actions we all need to do to end this. As for COVID-19 now with the omicron variant, ramping up testing again is slow and the messaging is not great, but anything is better than what was going down the year prior.
On the supply chain issues, the current administration was late to the party, but when it was blatantly clear there was a serious problem, it acted by opening the ports 24/7, which was a big help. Creating a supply chain task force is a help, too, but it has a long way to go to really understand and fix the problems. Getting the infrastructure bill passed on a bipartisan basis is also a big help, but we won’t feel that for years.
TB: What are your predictions for the state of toy retail in 2022?
JF: I expect sales to be strong. The consumer is still in very good shape, employment levels are high, and people likely will still not be traveling or going out at pre-COVID-19 levels yet, so demand should be great. However, the supply chain is likely to be as volatile as it was in 2021. Maybe not worse, but not a lot better — there will just be different issues for us all to deal with. Containers will be in short supply and space on vessels is limited and expensive. Once the product arrives, trucking will be difficult to arrange, warehouse labor will be tight, and there is a new port contract that needs to be settled by July. The best thinking for all is to expect it to be as bad, and be happy if it’s not!
This article was originally published in the February 2022 edition of the Toy Book. Click here to read the full issue!
