Miscellaneous

The U.S. population is aging rapidly. From 2004 to 2024, the share of Americans ages 65 and older increased from 12.4% to 18.0%, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. This is due in part to the country's declining birth rate and increased life expectancy, but also because Baby Boomers – whose generation is defined by the increase of births in the U.S. following World War II – are now well into their 60s and 70s.

Auto-New Domestic

Although demand improved in October, U.S. manufacturing contracted at a faster rate than the previous month driven largely by continued tariff uncertainty, according to the Institute for Supply Management's latest Purchasing Managers' Index. ISM's index registered 48.7% in October, down 0.4 percentage points compared with September. A PMI index below 50% indicates an industry in contraction.

Toy Stores

Industry growth is largely being driven by collectible toys (+33%) and licensed toys (+14%). Strategic trading card games, sports trading cards, and action figure collectibles led the charge for collectibles; sports, witches and wizards, animals, movies, and video games were the big licensing themes. Seven of the 11 supercategories posted dollar growth, with six of them also showing unit growth.