Playtime childrenswear show to refocus on Paris, New York, Shanghai editions

By

Sarah Ahssen

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Jan 31, 2020

Childrenswear trade show organiser Picaflor is able to cater to a huge number of buyers from all around the world with the Playtime shows in Paris, New York and Shanghai. Enough of a reach to convince Picaflor to decide to stop holding Playtime in Las Vegas and Tokyo.

The Kid’s Hub Las Vegas by Playtime show was introduced in February 2019, aiming to feature a slightly less upmarket range of exhibitors than Playtime New York, its main target demographic being Midwestern buyers. The show failed to win over a large audience and, after two sessions, in February and August 2019, Picaflor has decided to put a stop to it. “We staged two good editions, but the show was losing ground all the same. We will now focus on New York, while the Las Vegas event has nevertheless enabled us to connect with new buyers,” said Sébastien de Hutten, director of the Playtime shows.

The Playtime Tokyo show, which was launched 10 years ago, has also been terminated, its last edition being the one held from July 31 to August 2 2019. Two years ago, the Tokyo event had been revamped to better respond to the expectations of the Japanese market. The latter is a complicated market, due to the country’s low birth rate and the weakening Japanese economy. Also, 97% of the show's visitors came from Japan, proof that the event didn’t have a wider regional reach. Partly because of this, in July 2019 Picaflor launched the Playtime Shanghai show. “Even though visitors to Playtime Shanghai are predominantly from China, it is a more international event. Its initial editions attracted visitors also from Japan, as well as Singapore and Korea,” said de Hutten. The next edition of Playtime Shanghai is scheduled on February 19 and 20, provided of course that flying to China, a country that is currently off-limits due to the coronavirus outbreak, will be possible again.

Picaflor has already proved that it is more than willing to test its capabilities in new markets. In July 2017, it launched Playtime Berlin. However, the show was halted after three editions, due to a declining number of visitors. “We are always trying out new formats to respond to the needs of our exhibitors and, in any case, this enables us to reach new buyers,” said de Hutten, who underlined how Playtime New York attracts buyers from the American continent, Playtime Shanghai from the whole of Asia and Playtime Paris from the world over.
 
The most recent edition of Playtime Paris was held from January 25 to 27 2020. The organisers have not yet published attendance figures, though at the end of the event they were encouraged by the fact that the transport strikes plaguing the French capital only had a limited impact.