Games, Playthings and Plush

Trends in Plush (From page 137)

Masterpiece Puzzles. It has a small plush teddy bear head and arms on it in super soft plush. The Security Bear is a massive seller for us, mainly in college teams. The blankets measure approximately 50-inches-by-60-inches,” he said.

For the summer, Rogers said best-sellers will be both TeenyMates and Big Shot Ballers sets created for baseball teams. “Those will definitely be popular for us. But, what I’ve noticed as a big summer seller are sports team items for cars rather than other categories of merchandise.”

Selling more plush and toy merchandise means both social media and store display for Rogers, and the store’s social media hits all the major platforms. “We do a lot of social media, in fact we do every kind, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok. We have also started to develop our own YouTube channel. And we do promotions through Google shopping.”

According to Rogers, the store shoots videos inside the store to show people what merchandise they typically offer, and any new products as they come available.

“Along with that, we also have adopted a hybrid drop method, in which we carry best-selling team items in the store, but we can get the same items in for any team, if people want to purchase them, and ship those. That helps us appeal to all types of team fans.”

As to in-store display, the 2,800-square-foot SportsFanz has a large display of the PVC action figures positioned in the front of the store. “In the summer, we move our plush animal blankets to the back of the store because they are more of a fall item. But they still sell year-round.”

While sports fans are driven to purchase a wide variety of team logo and character items, plush and toys are a strong seller at most fan stores. ❖