Sales up in Selfridges' toy department

In this recession dampened world we are pleased to see that Selfridges department store has had a very good year. Sales have been driven by design and style rather than the discounting which their rivals have had to resort to

Paul Kelly, who is their Chief Executive, credits their success on the fact that they had a strong balance sheet before the recession hit which meant that they have been able to concentrate on shop keeping and not keeping their creditors and bankers happy.

Most small businesses have gone through periods of cash flow problems so this comment made quite an impact in our office. When you are concentrating on how to pay Peter and Paul it is difficult to come up with creative ideas for products and promotions. This must be doubly so in larger companies when you have to include major shareholders and city bankers in any financial decision

I wonder how much energy and management time of our larger companies this year has been spent on managing their bankers rather than managing their customers?

At a time when your rivals are consumed by internal issues the luxury of concentrating on retailing must be a huge advantage

As a soft toy wholesaler we were particulaly interested to see that toy sales are up 27%. Selfridges do not list our toys (although we seriously think they should!) but perhaps we may capture their interest in 2010. Fingers crossed!