China’s Ailing Factories Need a Little Christmas Cheer
With the global reopening sputtering, the holiday season is more important than ever.
In January toymaker Dave Cave was feeling good about the year ahead. Orders were coming in for Mighty Megasaur, and he was readying a racing game to coincide with the release of the latest installment in the Fast & Furious franchise. Then the coronavirus shut down the world economy, and Vin Diesel announced the flick would be pushed back a year. Cave saw demand collapse. His Hong Kong-based company, Dragon-I Toys, which makes its goods in China and sells them to 240 retailers in 53 countries, including Walmart Inc., was forced to cut costs as it waited for the crisis to pass.
Now, as global retailers start to stock up before the crucial yearend holiday-shopping season, a hopeful Cave says Dragon-I Toys’ order book is at its best level in years.