Brian Parrish, and his wife Linda, have been in the Toy business for
over 40 years. As the Managing Director of Toys Direct To Your Door,
Brian’s passion for the toy trade is clearly influential, as the
company continues to provide quality toys to children across the globe.In this interview, Brian explains when his passion for the toy trade started and what we can expect from Toys Direct To Your Door in the near future.
Brian, you have owned the second largest toy shop in the country and you now own a very successful online toyshop. What led you to become so involved in the toy trade?I got involved at about 4 years old working every weekend and school holidays in my fathers toy shop
How long have you been managing Toys Direct To Your Door?Nearly 13 years
What do you enjoy most about the industry?It's never boring. Every year approximately 40% of toys change either completely with new products being introduced, or improvements to existing toys are made.
What are the advantages of online retail? And how does it compare to high street retail? No waiting for customers to enter your shop 9hrs a day 7 days a week, there’s always activity on the website 24hrs a day due to the different time zones
You’re often attending toy fairs to find new products for your website, and to keep up to date with the fast moving industry. What qualities do you look for in the toys you sell on your website? Quality and play value is at the top of my agenda. When I had the toy shop we had to stock all of the in products whether we wanted to or not as the customers expected it.
January was the 50th birthday of LEGO. If there was one toy you could bring back from your childhood, what would it be?None really - as you point out, Lego has been around for 50 years and the toys were much more basic when I grew up. Also, products like Monopoly, Cluedo and Meccano were on the market long before Lego.
Finally, we hear Toys Direct To Your Door have an exciting year ahead. What can we expect?Due to our growth in the last few years we need to move into larger premises. This will give us room to expand our ranges so we can become more of a one-stop shop, saving our customers time and money by not having to go elsewhere.
With an aim of gradually getting to know the full team at Toys Direct To Your Door, every month we will introduce you to the group, on an individual basis!
