Happy Christmas!

With 48 sites in 30 different countries, the Simba Dickie Group is at home all over the world. Whether it’s in the Near East, Asia or Europe, everybody celebrates Christmas.

GERMANY
For German children, the most important day of Christmas is 24 December. Because when the shops shut at midday, the preparations at home go into top gear. The ingredients for the potato salad (eaten with sausage for supper) are simmering on the stove, the sitting room is out of bounds and everybody puts on their best clothes. Early in the evening a little bell rings: in South Germany it means the Christ Child has come, in the north it’s Father Christmas – but whichever of them it is has put the presents under the festively decorated Christmas tree. Now comes the present giving! The Simba Dickie Group’s contribution to the Christmas festivities in Germany focuses on big toys: Smoby kitchens, BIG Bobby Cars, Dickie’s RC vehicles and Simba’s Filly Houses are particularly popular gifts, which in past years most grownups didn’t start buying until December. In 2010, for example, the 51st week of the year produced higher turnover for the toy industry than any other.

» At Christmas time the whole family gets together – it’s been that way since I was a child. « Stefan Lutz, Head of Marketing Simba Dickie Group

HONG KONG
There’s no city more international than Hong Kong. But everyone agrees about
Christmas: it has to be celebrated! Streets, buildings and shopping centres are sumptuously decorated and pleasure parks put on special Christmas shows. Christians go to church and celebrate Christmas in traditional style with friends and family. The highlight of 2010 was when about 2000 people came to hear a Christmas concert by the Tölz Boys’ Choir. But members of other religious groups also invite friends and relatives and exchange gifts. Even Chinese families are increasingly tending to observe Christmas: children follow the British/American
custom of hanging up stockings and hope that Dun Che Lap Ren – Father Christmas, Chinese style – will bring them some presents. Parents are happy to fulfil these expectations: in Hong Kong, too, more money is spent on toys at Christmas than at any other time. Top of the wish list are expensive presents such as remote-controlled fire engines

MIDDLE EAST
Anyone who believes that it’s New York that never sleeps has obviously not seen
Dubai: here, supermarkets and shopping centres stay open seven days a week, and sometimes 24 hours a day. That also applies to Christmas, of course, because the Christian feast is not an official holiday in the United Arab Emirates. India is quite different: the official holiday is strongly affected by American media and Santa Claus is everywhere at once. Even in Dubai, hotels and malls sprout plastic Christmas trees and Christmas markets abound. The highlight of 2010: a hotel attempted to bake the world’s largest Stollen. Simba Middle East has its own Stollen: the employees love Christmas and celebrate it with traditional spiced cookies and alcohol-free mulled wine. Simba Middle East’s Christmas  est-sellers are principally licensed items: Winnie the Pooh and other Disney motifs lead the trend.

» After a few days in the unfamliar chill of Germany I am rested and refreshed and ready to start another successful year. « Benjamin Nabert, Managing Director Simba Middle East

SPAIN
In Spain the whole family – including all the relatives and best friends – assembles in the evening of 24 December for the traditional, very festive Christmas dinner. It goes on for hours. Favourite dishes are prawns or salmon, home-made soup, and lamb or fish as the main course. For dessert there’s turrón, a sweetmeat made with almonds, honey, eggs and lots of sugar. Traditionally, only small presents are given on Christmas Eve; the big ones follow on 6 January, Epiphany. The day before Epiphany, children put their shoes in the window and hope that the Three Kings will bring them gifts, which in Spain are always sumptuously packed. But this custom is on the way out, and many families now give out the presents on 24 December. The purchase of toys is more concentrated in the Christmas season in Spain than anywhere else in the world: 80% of turnover, with 30% of the whole year’s sales taking place in the three days from 2 to 4 January.

ITALY
If you celebrate Christmas in Italy, there’s no getting away from the family. In central and southern Italy the family comes for supper and present-giving on 24 December. The usual dishes are fish and the world-famous cake, panettone.
In the north-west they have a big midday meal on Christmas Day, and then come
the presents. Christmas presents are generally not too extravagant; children
get their really big presents on 13 December – the feast of Santa Lucia, which is celebrated particularly in Sicily and the north-east – or on 6 January, Epiphany, when presents are given out by an old witch called the Befana, and many towns hold processions and parades. Italian children love licensed products – DVDs, films, events – which come out or take place in autumn and so are particularly high on the list at Christmas. But this rule doesn’t always apply to the biggest-selling products: in 2010 Simba’s best-sellers were Steffi and Evi Love and Hello Kitty. Smoby’s were the Hello Kitty Extra Large Kitchen, Hello Kitty music toys and the Winx kitchen. One ground rule must always be observed, however: the present must come in a big parcel.

» At Christmas I like best to spend time being daddy to my two kids and cooking fish with the family and best friends. « Maurizio Basciano, Managing Director Simba und Smoby Toys Italia

CHILE
While the whole of Europe is living a winter’s tale, South Americans spend Christmas on the beach: it’s summertime! But before enjoying the holiday, the
whole family meets in the evening on 24 December and goes to church together.
Afterwards there’s a festive supper; the speciality is pan de Pascua, a honey and
ginger spiced cake. The Christmas tree is unveiled on the stroke of midnight, and
then it’s time for present giving; in Chile the presents are brought by the Viejo
Pasquero (Old Shepherd). As far as presents and present-marketing are
concerned, Chile is like the rest of the world: the advertising begins as early as
September, licensed themes are particularly popular, and parents are resigned
to spending more money than usual. A good litmus test for Christmas turnover
is Children’s Day, at the beginning of August, which accounts for about
30% of annual toy sales in Chile.