It’s easy to assume that most plushies that smile cheerfully at passing customers will find their way into the mouth of a teething toddler or the forceful clutch of an enamored child.
“The more realistic it looks, the more adults seem to really enjoy it,” she says. “And teenagers as well, which I am surprised to learn.”
She adds the key to success lies in making shelves deep enough to display plush attractively and grouping them appropriately by demographic so that guests can just grab and go.
Steve Wampold, founder of the Punchkins brand that is known for using plush as a “medium to tell jokes and relate sentiments that are personally relatable,” says they are cultivating the catchphrases of today’s social world.
Realism reigns supreme
At the Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose, Texas, guests drive through an 1,800-acre nature preserve where rare and endangered species roam free in natural habitats, according to the website. Halfway through the two-hour self-guided tour, the Overlook awaits.Here, guests can grab a bite to eat, tour the Children’s Animal Center and explore the Nature Store, a mecca devoted to the animals on-site. Visitors can shop a variety of T-shirts, plush, coffee mugs, travel mugs, water bottles, toys and impulse items like stickers and magnets.
“The more realistic it looks, the more adults seem to really enjoy it,” she says. “And teenagers as well, which I am surprised to learn.”
Eye level is buy level
While most recommend putting plush at eye level for children, animals at The Ark Encounter gift shop stand at attention in two-by-two formation higher up on display walls to catch the attention of adults, says Jennifer Napier, retail director for the Williamstown, Kentucky, gift shop.For this reason, the gift shop features a 16-foot wall stacked with wooden crates of varying sizes that house poison dart frogs, giraffes, lemurs, kangaroos, goats, emus, camels, snakes, zebras, llamas and the majority of the other animals at The Ark Encounter’s Ararat Ridge Zoo and Children’s Zoo.
She adds the key to success lies in making shelves deep enough to display plush attractively and grouping them appropriately by demographic so that guests can just grab and go.
All the rage
And just where are wholesalers finding success and inspiration for plush for adults and teens these days?Steve Wampold, founder of the Punchkins brand that is known for using plush as a “medium to tell jokes and relate sentiments that are personally relatable,” says they are cultivating the catchphrases of today’s social world.