8217;re really excited about it,” Toymate CEO Danny Bloom told Inside Retail.   Customer experience is at the heart of Toymate stores, according to Bloom, and stores are designed to be “colourful, magical and experiential”.  One way that Toymate delivers on this is by bringing popular characters to life in stores.  “We’ve got a great supplier base and we work with them to bring their assets to life in our stores. When you walk in, there are character printouts and graphics in the fixtures and on the floor,” he explained.  Four stores in four weeks The store, which is set to open on the weekend of December 4, is the latest in a run of stores opened by the retailer in recent weeks.  “It wasn’t exactly planned that way,” Bloom admitted. “Lockdowns meant that we ended up opening four stores in four weeks, which has been fun. Two or three of those were supposed to open earlier but with lockdown restrictions, that’s just how it panned out.” Two of the new stores opened in Melbourne, in Nunawading and in Watergardens, and another opened in Townsville in Queensland, extending the brand’s footprint into new states. And there are plans to grow the brand’s presence further next year.   “The business started in New South Wales, and the majority of our stores are still in the state. We’ve got two stores in Melbourne, one in Queensland and a few in WA,” Bloom explained, adding that the retailer will expand into Australia next year. Expansion into baby category The new store will also see the brand’s entry into the baby category, a move that will allow the retailer to cater to a wider demographic, but Bloom said they will take a slow and steady approach to the rollout of baby products.  “We’re new to the [baby category], and there’s a lot to learn. We want to start slowly and ramp it up from there,” Bloom said.  Toymate has been in operation in Australia for 12 years and gained a strong position in the market when Toys ‘R’ Us collapsed in 2018.  “When Toys ‘R’ Us closed, we took on the large format footprint, and since then, we’ve been opening these large format stores,” Bloom said.   But with Toys ‘R’ Us back in action in the Australian market, the pressure is on Toymate to maintain and grow its position.  “What we try to do that is a bit different is, we make the shops quite family-friendly, inviting, vibrant, but also, [different in terms of the] product mix. We’re a specialist that carries everything from toys to outdoor [products].” Countdown to Christmas With sales season already upon us and Christmas fast approaching, Toymate is hoping for strong sales over the coming weeks.  “Black Friday has become a much bigger event that I think people hold out for, but December’s always our busiest month, leading up to Christmas,” Bloom said.  “It will be interesting to see, this year, when online shopping stops, because there’s been a lot of carrier issues. It’s been a pretty crazy year so we’re hoping for a good Christmas.” Looking ahead to next year, Toymate will focus on fine tuning its omnichannel experience for customers.  “We’re going to have a massive revamp of our website. We’re always trying to continue to improve our store format and you know we’ve got some exciting properties coming up in 2022 that will try and take it to the next level,” Bloom said.