Retailing: Only 69 Shopping Days Left

Too early to start thinking about Christmas? Not at all. With the toy industry headed toward a record $11 billion in retail sales this year, spot shortages of the most popular games and dolls are already appearing. Toy stores say they cannot stock enough of Rainbow Brite, Mattel's newest line of dolls. Kenner expects to ship 9 million of its fuzzy Care Bears, yet still cannot meet demand. Some 25 factories in Japan are turning out tiny robots called Transformers that can be changed into cars and dinosaurs, but 20% of retail orders are going unfilled. Even last year's smash,...