Edinburgh toy shop told it can't sell Jellycat plushies after being 'dumped'

An independent toy shop says it has been “dumped” by Jellycat and will no longer be allowed to stock the collectables.

Edinburgh’s Toys Galore announced on social media that it had received an “impersonal letter” from the British company stating that products would not be supplied to the store as it enters the “next stage” of the “brand elevation strategy”.

The soft toys have become highly sought after, with many items selling out upon release.

The Morningside shop called the decision to close its account “extraordinary” and said that Jellycat is “turning its back on loyal stockists”.

Edinburgh's Toys Galore — Edinburgh’s Toys Galore Google Maps

A spokesperson for Toys Galore said: “Jellycat has been around for 25 years and has become hugely successful.

“However, they wouldn’t have got anywhere without the support of independent shops, who were prepared to invest time, effort and money promoting their product.

“Rather than reward the stockists who have supported them over decades, they choose to pull the rug.

Jellycat products have become sought after collectables. Getty Images

“What strikes us about how this has been handled is the contempt not only shown towards us, but to our customers too. If customers want to buy Jellycat from us instead of some high end department store, why shouldn’t they?

“None of our other suppliers have ever treated us with such disrespect.”

Jellycat said that it is still supporting small businesses throughout the UK.

But said it has decided to cease supplying toys to around 100 stores in efforts to offer the “best possible Jellycat experience”.

A spokesperson for the company told STV News: “We are big supporters of small business stockists and today there are over 1,200 independent stores across the UK stocking Jellycat.

“They’ve been the backbone of our business for over two decades and this will continue long into the future as we build our teams and upgrade our systems to support them better.

“Unfortunately we’re not able to support every shop that wants to stock Jellycat and, after very careful consideration, we recently ceased supplying about 100 stores.”

The company said it was “very sorry” for the hurt caused to those retailers and their customers but claimed that reducing its stockists by 8% would improve the service provided to the remaining stores.

“We have been humbled by our recent growth and are working hard to supply our stockists of all sizes – big and small – in a way that is fair and reasonable,” the company said.

“We are also increasing supply as fast as we can without compromising our high quality and production standards.”