Sales soaring of jigsaw puzzles, board games, Lego during coronavirus
Forget toilet paper and hand sanitiser, what people really wanted to get their hands on during those few crazy weeks of coronavirus lockdown were jigsaw puzzles and games. And game shop owners were surprised to see the types of people stocking up.
Inner East
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It has been a tough time for many businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, but one industry is putting the pieces together.
Thousands of customers have flocked to local game shops with some products flying off the shelves.
Lucas Hipkins, who runs the Hawthorn, Malvern and Northcote stores of the family owned Mind Games, said jigsaw puzzles were “walking out the door”, as well as Lego sets and two-player board games, suitable for couples staying in.
But while it was “crazy” for the first couple of weeks, sales have since dropped off.
Its Hawthorn store, under the shadows of Swinburne University, has been greatly affected by the university shutting down.
“A lot of our stuff has been selling, but a lot of our customers have changed,” Mr Hipkins said.
“It has been quite different over the past month.
“Definitely the first couple of weeks we had a big upturn in sales, but that has very quickly dropped.
“We had people come in and buy six jigsaw puzzles at a time who looked like they had never done a puzzle before. It was part of the panic buying, it was like toilet paper.”
He said supply was a concern after people bought so many puzzles at one time.
“People stockpile 10 puzzles, every Tom, Dick and Harry is stripping stores bare, online as well,” Mr Hipkins said.
“Everywhere is completely gutted, but there is nothing for the regulars when they come in.
“It will all go back to normal eventually, but we are also having difficulty with our suppliers and the shipping channels. We have had issues with getting stock out of areas like the US and China.”
Mr Hipkins also flagged some concern with how the next few months would play out.
“I think a lot of people are hurting, so when they are struggling with rent or to put food on the table, unfortunately the fun things like Lego and puzzles will be the first things to go,” he said.
Scott Annable, who is an owner of General Games, which has stores in Malvern and Frankston, said after the “massive” initial surge where sales went up “300-400 per cent”, that level has been maintained continuously.
While tournaments they used to run for Magic: The Gathering and Warhammer have stopped, more “mainstream demographic people” have more than filled the void.
“Jigsaw puzzles are a big one. They are very easy for mainstream people to get into — it is easy, safe and comfortable,” Mr Annable said.
“There has also been a big uptick in entry level games, like Ticket to Ride and Settlers of Catan that are easy to get into.
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“Even now since the lockdown we’ve seen new people come back and take the next step to slightly more complicated games.
“The industry itself has picked up a lot of new customers — they have found a new hobby.”
He said sales at the Frankston store had not gone up as much but was coming off a larger base.