Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live At Daybreak

Last Minute Shopping at FAO Schwartz

Aired December 24, 2001 - 06:49   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SACHI KOTO, CNN ANCHOR: Your spouse may understand if you don't understand if you don't have a present for them tomorrow, maybe. But you can't disappoint the kids.

CNN's Keith Oppenheim is among the last-minute shoppers in Chicago. Well, Keith, are you working or are you doing some last- minute shopping, there?

KEITH OPPENHEIM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I had to do a lot of preparation for this story, Sachi. I've done plenty of shopping, and I'm afraid I'm going to do more.

But let me show you some toys, today, at FAO Schwartz, where we're right underneath the clock tower in the store. But before we do, we're going to talk a little bit about toys and sales, and give you a sense of our location in downtown Chicago.

FAO Schwartz is located on "The Magnificent Mile." It's a strip of Michigan Avenue, in one of the city's central shopping districts. Just to talk economics for a moment, total sales for the toy industry were down this year, and it's no surprise that in this economy, and just after September 11th, toy stores struggled.

But November, and especially December, brought change. A big boost in sales and last-minute shopping. And also a general sense that the events of September 11th played into how parents shop for their kids. And with us now, to talk about that, is Katie McKay, who is the general manager. Hi, Katie.

KATIE MCKAY, GENERAL MANAGER, FAO Schwartz: Good morning.

OPPENHEIM: A lot of American hero stuff -- firefighters, police cars. That's all selling well?

MCKAY: Absolutely. It's been incredible. We've always carried the toys, but the demand has really grown.

OPPENHEIM: All right, let's talk electronics for a minute, and demonstrate one of your hot items, here, for me.

MCKAY: This is our FAO Schwartz exclusive, radio-controlled Avalanche, retails for $175.

OPPENHEIM: Can you plow your driveway with that thing? MCKAY: In Chicago, you kind of need to.

OPPENHEIM: Yeah, for 175 bucks, it's not a bad price. And those things are -- do you have them still left, here in the store?

MCKAY: Yes, we have a few left.

OPPENHEIM: So it's going quickly.

MCKAY: Oh, absolutely.

OPPENHEIM: OK. Let's move on to -- what's our next toy, here?

MCKAY: Harry Potter.

OPPENHEIM: Oh, Harry Potter. That's right. That is not just these figures, but it's a general -- a whole set of different toys.

MCKAY: It's an entire line. Almost every vendor has participated, including Lego and Hasbro. But the action figures, specifically Harry, himself, is one of our best-selling action figures.

OPPENHEIM: You can get Draco, Hagrid, the various characters.

MCKAY: Fluffy, the three-headed dog.

OPPENHEIM: Who could live without that? All right, I'm giving you the mike, here, demonstrate the karaoke machine.

MCKAY: Well, it's our FAO Schwartz In-concert Karaoke machine. Retails for $100.

OPPENHEIM: And I'll turn up the volume just a touch.

MCKAY: (Singing "Thank You")

OPPENHEIM: Doesn't sound like a toy. And not to interrupt your singing, here, but that goes for, what, $100?

MCKAY: $100.

OPPENHEIM: OK. And in general, would you say that it's been a surprisingly good December for you?

MCKAY: Absolutely. Surprising and great. We all thought that it would be a little bit challenging this December, but November, it kind of took a turn to the better side, and December it's been phenomenal. So we're very, very pleased.

OPPENHEIM: And on that point, Sachi, we'll say good-bye by indicating that retail analysts tell us that there has been a five- year trend, where last-minute shopping seems to be moving closer and closer to the 24th, where people just sort of save it for the last day. The hopeful expectation is that is exactly what will happen this year. We'll see. Reporting live in Chicago, Keith Oppenheim. Now back to you.

KOTO: And good luck on that last-minute shopping, Keith.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com