The new 2009 Gibsons puzzles are now on our website. There are 30 new styles and a new category: 250 piece puzzles with pieces that, although standard puzzle shapes, are 60% larger than regular puzzle pieces. The 250 piece jigsaw puzzles are also priced to move and introduce consumers to the quality of Gibsons puzzles. Once again Gibsons have kept several themes going from whimsical animal motifs (can pigs smile and cats mail a letter?) to scenery of a quasi-imaginary past to the popular settings of human activities before the full onset of the industrial and post-industrial era. This particular theme raises an interesting point: do we work harder with the aid of technology or do we enjoy more leisure time? The recession for some reason has increased sales in puzzles. All the favorite puzzle artists are in the new styles: Kevin Walsh, O’Brien, Gale Pitt, etc. Have fun: puzzles in stock early next week.

Gibsons jigsaw puzzles with their uniquely nostalgic feel appeal to a more mature demographic that, although not necessarily experiencing the era, has a memory of reading about the post war period in the newspapers (remember them?) or even at the pictures when the Movietone news segment played before the main feature. Old fashioned tobacco shops have had to adapt to the new realities of a more health conscious public  ( at least a far as tobacco is concerned) by offering a selection of merchandise that fits into the expanded leisure hours their customers have. More established hobbies such as jigsaw puzzles have proven to be a source of income once a absolute staple of the toy store. Tobacco shops and bookstores are two venues that have found a section of jigsaw puzzles to be a welcome addition to their more anticipated selection of merchandise.

Christmas is only the beginning of the puzzle season. This past two months have been very hot for Gibsons Puzzles. Despite slower retail business overall the jigsaw puzzle trade has been going full blast. Perhaps retailers were a bit light on their puzzle ordering before Christmas. Since then we have has mostly complete re-orders of all last fall’s new items. Combine this with a general re-stock and you find a very healthy puzzle trade. We’ve also found that stores that cater to a more mature clientele are enjoying some big increases in puzzle trade. All in all for about $25 a jigsaw puzzle really can’t be beat for hobby value.

Gibsons have just announced their new 2009 range. There are a huge number of new puzzles and it may take a few weeks to see what our customers want. For Gibsons, even with their vast experience, consumers tastes vary and continue to change. The average age of a puzzle enthusiast is now over sixty and is, in fact, approaching seventy years of age. 1000 piece puzzles are still the most popular but larger piece puzzles are also proving more popular. Gibsons have introduced a new line of 250 piece puzzles the piece sizes being 60% larger than a standard puzzle piece size. The pieces are not a large as in the 500 piece extra large range but are somewhere between the two. The price point of the 250 piece puzzles will be the least expensive of the entire Gibsons range. Keep checking in for the actual images which will be posted over the coming weeks.