Toys Product News Brief

The Petting Zoo Grows Its Sustainable, Eco-Friendly Wild Onez Plush Line

ber one. “We thought initially that their higher price point might be more than our customers are willing to spend, but Jellycats are so special and so cute that people just love them,” said Nicole Allred , the gift shop manager. Ty Beanie Boos rank second. “They’ve been kind of a classic staple – really adorable and super affordable. We find that Jellycats do really well with people seeking baby gifts or a special plush item whereas Ty appeals to 4-to-10-year-old kids.” Hiron also carries plush selections from Aurora, Douglas, Wild Republic and the occasional item from Demdaco all in an effort to have a good variety of different cats, bears, and similar creatures. “We find these kinds of realistic animals sell really well for us.”

Although Hirons hasn’t jumped on the official Squishmallows bandwagon, they have incorporated some of the Ty Squish-A-Boos into their offerings. “We also do really well with Pusheen and their Studio Ghibli line,” said Allred, who in addition to relying on advice from sales reps, typically attends gift shows to find new merchandise. “Plush is great to find at shows because you can touch it, feel it, and see the quality, which is so important.” Hirons devotes approximately half the square footage at both its stores to gift items – although the Franklin Boulevard store devotes more space to University of Oregon products since it is situated very close to campus.

“Plush is a good category for us. It’s one of those things where your heart really leads you to the one you want. Soft and cuddly and cute usually wins out so that’s what we aim for. We select the ones we think are the absolute cutest and they tend to do really well,” Allred concluded. ❖

It’s an exciting time to check out all the new happenings at Maryland-based plush company, The Petting Zoo. Due to the success of their new brand Wild Onez, the company finds itself growing as a core vendor faster than anyone expected.

Wild Onez features realistic detail and educational value while being constructed of high-quality fabrics and fill made completely out of recycled water bottles. Each plush piece includes, recycled paper hang tags, sewn on “I’m Recycled” patches along with customer-centric value pricing. It’s obvious that retailers of all sizes are taking notice.

(For more information, or to have a look, call 1-888-8674059, visit www.pettingzooplush.com, email customercare@pettingzooplush.com, or circle 72 on the reader service card.)