Let the sales begin

Retailers gear up for Spice rush

The five Girls might have become four, but retailers sitting on a mountain of Spice merchandise don't expect girl power to lose any of its commercial appeal just yet.

In fact, some music and toy vendors contacted yesterday believe, if anything, the departure of Geri Halliwell -- aka Ginger Spice -- will mean added profits for the Girls' $500-million marketing empire.

"The first thing I did when I came in this morning was to say make sure we're topped up with the Girls, just to make sure we're covered," said Steve Bleeker, owner of CD Warehouse, which stocks Spice Girls T-shirts, posters and books alongside the group's two albums, Spice and Spiceworld.

The media buzz around Ginger's retirement from the Spice fold should create a "heightened awareness"of the group, he explained, which generally translates into an upturn in sales.

"Every (media) hit is a sale, every little clip," said Bleeker, noting Spice Girls sales doubled last week when rumors of Halliwell's departure began.

Predictions the Spice Girls 15 minutes are up could turn out to be unfounded if the split is milked properly for more sales mileage.

"I think it's a record company's dream. You're pretty much guaranteed a Geri Spice solo album, and a ... Spice Girls album hopefully next year."

Bleeker admitted he has an insider's point of view on how the Spice saga could play out.

Mississauga-based Main Event Toys, the only Canadian distributor that carries Spice Girls dolls -- including the new "tour editions" -- has already received orders from retailers gearing up for a rush on Girl merchandise, said spokeswoman Selina Eckersall.

"We're expecting that Geri Spice will become a collector's item," she said. "And as far as the others are concerned, we expect them to keep selling, too.

"We carry Godzilla and a lot of popular Men In Black toys and popular action figures for TV, but the Spice Girls ... have been our No. 1."

Still, not everyone is expecting a Spice Girls boom to erupt.

While he could foresee an upturn in sales of Spice products bearing Halliwell's image, Brant Beckta, manager of HMV in the Rideau Centre, didn't anticipate CD sales to take off.

"There hasn't been much of a reaction at all," he said. "It's almost a non-issue: If you're a fan, you've already got the album."