When sales of all the stuff that had sold so well (for example, the Alexander Dolls, the Corolles, the plush animals, Gene, Tyler) kept going down in the early 2000s, I mistakenly thought it was just a phase. Surely things would pick up again and sales of all the usual stuff would improve. My store manager, who had been in retail for many more years than I, advised just waiting it out.
But as time went by and things didn't improve despite our efforts, I grew more and more anxious, wondering how the shop would survive.
By late 2004 or so several other doll stores located in Washington had gone out of business. I began research online, looking at websites of other doll stores. Many had all the same stuff marked down that we did, and it didn't look like sales were great for them either. Like us, many had lots of old inventory still available. This is not a great way to stay in business.
Obviously , all the usual stuff was never going to sell as it once had. The next question was, what was going to be the next big thing that would sell?
Back to the internet I went. After many hours of surfing and reading, I realized BJDs and everything that went with them were going to be the next big thing. I began educating myself about them and contacting Korean BJD companies. By late spring of 2005 we'd gotten the first BJDs in stock, along with wigs and other accessories from Grace of JPOP. I have to thank Grace for helping educate my staff and I about the whole BJD phenomenon.
I'd almost waited too long. My complacency almost cost me the shop. Since then I've realized that the doll market is ever changing, that what sold today may not sell next week, next month or next year. The internet has changed everything. Ebay, online forums, and many websites selling dolls and accessories have caused trends to come and go faster than ever before. The business owners who don't keep up with the changes are doomed to fail. I've seen this happen many times now, both locally and nationally.
Keeping up isn't easy. It takes time and effort, but is absolutely necessary. Trying to predict what will successfully sell is like throwing tiny darts at an even tinier, moving target; it's very easy to miss. But you have to keep trying.
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