Toys for the Boys

One of the main focuses for many retailers is how do they attract women into their store. Men are often neglected. Research carried out in Ireland by Jim Bradley revealed that when women went shopping with men , the average sale of the transaction and shopping time went down. The challenge is to either put men off shopping or to create “Toys for the Boys” and entertain them while their partners go shopping. I have just finished work with a farmers market in Maryland, USA, where they have developed a great “Toys for the Boys” concept. During the winter months they have an empty glasshouse attached to the store. They invited a model train enthusiast to set up his train set in this area. You can imagine the enthusiast had a field day with this amount of space at his disposal. The space was given for free as it was empty anyway and customers were asked to donate to a local children’s hospital. The day I was on site there was a constant traffic of men in the area and they were spending literally hours talking to the enthusiast and playing with the trains. What entertainment are you providing for men to linger longer so that their partners can do more leisurely shopping?