ky. I love the category of toys and babies. In fact, I’m a customer myself, having three girls under the age of 6, so it’s something I feel strongly about. Play is so important to children’s development and we really want to inspire and enable parents and caregivers to create magical moments with the children they love. And I have three very willing toy testers in-house. From a company standpoint, I am a problem solver and I saw a huge amount of untapped opportunity for the brand and the organisation to grow and improve how we do things. In e-commerce, it’s important to make sure we have the best possible technology and really tap into our data. At the same time as fixing some of our basic technology stack, we’re also looking into innovations for our customers. For example, we’re looking at ways that our AI can help gift-givers choose something that’s perfect for their specific loved one. My vision for the company is that we are truly an authority on toys (and babies and hobbies), and all aspects of development and play. IR: Can you discuss how your previous experience has shaped your leadership and management style? Are there any key philosophies that you’re taking into this role?  PC: Great question. I have learned so much from previous experiences and from former colleagues, managers and mentors – and it’s been so valuable to me stepping into this role. When working in online groceries, we had to work really cross-functionally to solve problems, like how we can get eggs delivered without them breaking, and how we can build customer feedback into every part of the business so we can continually improve. No part of a company can work independently, it all needs to be part of the wider mission: to delight our customers. And that is true for the toy industry as much as any other. I’m getting the team to focus on really putting the customer first in everything we do. What matters to them should be what matters to us; we want to build up a base of customers who LOVE us and what we do because they know that we have their best interests at heart. Philosophy-wise, for me, managing the business is all about helping people find a role they love to do, and at which they can excel. I love having great people around me and largely getting out of their way. My role is to remove obstacles from their path so they can achieve amazing things. I like to ask a lot of questions to get people thinking. I don’t want them to come to me for answers, I want them to show me the problem and how they are already thinking about tackling it. I’m constantly thinking about productivity and value add – how we can get our best people focused on the most important things, versus spending too much time on administrative tasks. Recently, we’ve invested in inventory planning software to help us make buying decisions quickly, and smart data-platform solutions that provide suggestions to the team on what actions to take, versus having to spend hours digging into data manually. We have brought in a product information management tool to help us manage the catalogue of thousands and thousands of products easily, without missing anything important, allowing the team to focus on areas where we can really add value to customers. IR: Can you discuss Toys ‘R’ Us’ store expansion plans across Australia, as well as international growth plans?  PC: I recently came back from the Toys ‘R’ Us Global Summit in New York, where all the leaders of the business around the world came together to share best practices, ideas and collaboration initiatives. The brand has huge global growth plans, launching hundreds of stores in the US and other countries, some as stand-alone initiatives and some as partnerships with other retailers; for example, with Macy’s in the US and WHSmith in the UK. For our organisation, we previously operated the UK and ANZ businesses, but have decided to focus purely on the ANZ region for now. We see so much growth opportunity in Australia, and trying to run the UK business from the other side of the world just didn’t make sense anymore. In ANZ, we’re still planning to open physical retail stores and have been learning a lot from the models that have been working in other countries. This is something we’ll really start in earnest in 2024. IR: Can you discuss cost savings or capital raising plans moving forward?  PC: The biggest opportunity for cost savings for Toys ‘R’ Us ANZ is going to come from the lease of our warehouse in Clayton, Victoria. The warehouse is too large for our current scale, so we are planning to exit that location and look for other options for operating our fulfilment, including outsourcing. This will create cost savings and efficiencies in the short and long term. Capital raising is firmly on our agenda long term, to support growth and retire some of the debt that the company has accrued. That will allow us to invest in some of the projects on our list and operate more profitably with better returns for shareholders. IR: I’m curious as to how you view product innovation and supply-chain automation? How significant will your investment be in both these areas? PC: Product innovation and differentiation is crucial in the toy industry, to ensure that we remain relevant and have a unique offering for the market. In FY24, we plan to invest more into our buying capabilities and work more with our global partners on private-label and unique assortments to bring to the local market. It’s also crucial to have a state-of-the-art technology stack and supply chain in the e-commerce and retail industry, particularly in toys (which is highly seasonal and rapidly evolving). We need to be able to react to trends quickly and achieve the lowest fulfilment costs and best service for our customers. But that doesn’t mean we have to build everything in-house. We are investing in technology to allow us to automate many of our supply-chain processes and considering outsourced logistics providers who have best-in-class performance and fulfilment rates. IR: Can you discuss how Toys ‘R’ Us ANZ plans to attract new audiences and retain existing ones? How do you see both the toy industry and key demographics and audiences changing and evolving? PC: Marketing hasn’t really been something the company has been strong at in the last few years. Many consumers I speak to don’t realise that Toys ‘R’ Us is back in Australia. So there’s a lot of opportunity there to reach people across a range of channels, and in a way that is relevant for them, which is on the agenda. I wore the Toys ‘R’ Us mascot Geoffrey Giraffe costume for a recent event and experienced first hand the excitement of kids when visiting a toy store. They are ready to be entertained and amazed – so we want to bring back more of the joy and wonder of our brand. There’s so much fun to be had in marketing toys. Gen Z and Generation Alpha (and their Millennial parents) encourage creativity and non-conformity, so we predict that there will be a lot more diversity in the toys that are popular, and we’ll be building in more personalisation and uniqueness to the toys that we introduce. One thing Toys ‘R’ Us has capitalised on in the last few years is the huge trend of ‘Kidult’ toys – basically, toys for grownups. We’ve seen huge growth in the Adult Lego sets and collectables segments and we see this continuing to be a really important and growing segment of the market. The other big trend in the toy industry globally is how important character and licensing has become – there’s a new toy for every movie and even movies for old-favourite toys.  So it’s important for us to keep up with all the latest releases and innovations – I predict a boom in toy-related content for the next few years after the success of the Barbie movie! With our brands spanning across Babies ‘R’ Us, Toys ‘R’ Us and Hobby Warehouse, we have something for all ages, and can make the most of our customer base as they age through all the segments. IR: Can you discuss Toys ‘R’ Us’ plans for the Black Friday and Christmas period in ANZ? Are there any interesting initiatives that you’re able to share? PC: The most exciting initiative on the horizon is that we’ll be relaunching our websites towards the end of October, in time for the Christmas trading period. Doing so will allow us to better showcase the breadth of range that we offer and be better able to tailor our products and offers to the right consumers – so there’ll be something for everyone. And it’ll be much easier to find what you’re looking for. We’ve spent a huge amount of effort cleaning up and optimising our product catalogue, so we can make the most of our first-party data and make browsing pleasurable versus overwhelming. We’re also about to launch our expert ‘Hot Toys’ list and gift guides for Christmas 2023 so parents and gift givers can make sure they’re getting what their kids really want this year. We know that parents in particular have been doing it tough this year with cost-of-living increases, so we’re working with our suppliers to be able to offer really great deals this year. Christmas doesn’t have to blow the bank and parents can still bring joy. Stay tuned for updates on our Black Friday deals. IR: Generally speaking, what do you see as the biggest challenges and opportunities for Toys ‘R’ Us ANZ moving forward? PC: The biggest challenge for the company in the short term is getting costs under control, so we can trade profitably and sustainably, and build up trust with our shareholders again, who have been rightfully disappointed by the company’s performance over the last few years. I have been looking at the entire business with a magnifying glass, and taking clear and decisive action on areas that we think are underperforming. I’ll continue to do so until we’re in a position of strength to put our foot on the gas and grow profitably, which I’m confident we will be able to achieve. Long term, we will be focused on making visiting a toy store (whether in real life or virtually) an exciting and fun experience for kids and parents alike. Just like the good old days of Toys ‘R’ Us. IR: Can you discuss long-term plans for the business in Australia and New Zealand? In 5-10 years, do you anticipate that the business will look and feel largely similar, or significantly different? PC: While outwardly, some things might seem similar to how they are today, I expect the makeup of the company to be quite different. I’d like to have more attention focused on our customers and their needs and less time on the administrative and operational tasks of selling toys online. The biggest team in the company today is finance and accounting, which shows that we’re not in balance. We want to have more of an outward customer view that will ensure our success. We’re still focused on bringing back physical retail as an important pillar of our brand strategy, so we’ll have to build competency in that area to support that kind of business. We’re actively meeting potential retail partners to work with us on that.