This site sees plenty of posts from our brothers and sisters here in El Segundo, but we often are left in the dark as to how things are going at the satellite offices and subsidiary brands.
Let's get some status reports: Madison, how's it going? Montreal, tout va bien? What about NYC and HIT? You guys still working on that Barney reboot? East Aurora, everything okay?
Layed-off all temps, ending contracts for contracted workers in EuRoMEA.
as ugly as the dolls are/were, they provided an experience for children that was unparalleled until the ding dongs in UM started messing with a winning formula. adding thomas to the mix to try and pass off more sub par wooden railway items, screwing with their business model and overtaxing the epitome of the word yokels. their cheese curd brains couldn’t handle the change and they imploded.
Ordering systems that do not function, web site platforms that leave the consumer beyond frustrated, too many middle men, initiatives that are not supported after launch, job cuts with more resposnbility leaving it impossible to keep up, stay informed and be anything but "ok". Need some IT support....haha, good luck with that! The need to meet numbers with "bodies"- guess what, now you are at a negative one since two have to clean the mess. And the inability to admit when an idea has just not worked- so congrats, customers talk and can only take so much before they also do not care. Epic failure and sadly it did not have to be
Simple answer. The dolls are ugly AF
I always assumed at AG dolls and accessories had great margins. They're expensive AF and are primarily sold DTC. How are they not making tons of profits?
At this point AG should sell their cheetos packing peanuts as a food product, maybe “american girl cheese curd flavored packing puffs”. At least then they’d stand a chance at being profitable again. What I can’t seem to understand is when did they become such a flop? They had such a strong model for success when we acquired them. At what point did our dirty hands sully the virgin?
iirc, MEGA sales were also down 30% in Q3. 30% is a staggering number, as someone else mentioned, this would be like taking a time machine back to 2016 and physically preventing one in every three purchases from taking place.
Something else must be at play here, AG and MEGA products didn't change that much in 12 months, nor did parents or kids taste in toys.
Poor product is the reason since the bean counters have dictated that the product have such a high margin that there is nothing special left. Perhaps we could offer the customer raw resin pellets in a fancy box at a 35% margin to make them happy.. think it will be a hit?
If a poor business strategy is to blame, it must have been a doozy. 30% decline in sales YOY? What was the change in strategy, did they tell retail employees to greet every third customer who walked in the store with a friendly "Please GTFO, and have a nice day!"
AG sales down, yes, details are probably many. Let's address this by who is accountable. Senior management had a poor strategy and execution causing this result. They have taken a prosperious brand , diluted it and ruined it this year. Despite all the good work of Middleton campus, business leaders are the reason. They deserve to be sacked. Despite their telling employees our company was "well positioned" for 2016 and 2017, ES management has screwed up again. This is maddening.
AG sales were down 30% last quarter compared to last year. That's pretty remarkable. Can anyone explain what's causing that?
Layed-off all the temps and contract workers at F-P, EA....no one seems to care
Extremely nervous in Wilmot Wi too...such a shame
People are definitely nervous in Madison...no news yet.