Baby gift basket toronto

Plush is a steady category and if it is merchandised aggressively it can bring many rewards to retailers. A competitive field for manufacturers, plush is hard for customers to resist if it is bought and displayed correctly. Trends in plush include a run on smaller items and plush relating to the area where it is being sold

Trends in plush

John Haug, general manager, MT&B Corp., Hillsborough, N.J., says the beanie market is saturated and the make-it-yourself teddy bear is a trend. The bears also feature add-on sales such as clothing and accessories.

"It's a trend at the moment. A few retailers have popularized them. They are fun and interactive and kids can take something home that they have made themselves and invested something more than just the purchase price in," Haug says.

Australian plush from Everything Australian is also doing well, according to David Hawking, the North Little Rock, Ark, company's vice president. Hawking says there is a trend in plush replicating wombats, koalas and kangaroos. "Australia has been in the news for the past couple of years and they are just fascinated with Australian animals," he says.

The popularity of Beanie Babies left consumers looking for something new, says Elaine Kollias, marketing, Folkmanis Inc., Emeryville, Calif. As a result of that trend the company had a run on its larger plush puppets. But the recession economy is turning that trend around and customers this year are looking for smaller, less expensive items. Still, Kollias says, "People don't mind paying for quality and for a good toy" with educational value . And the company expects its new baby line to do well with affluent parents.

Plush snakes with tails that rattle and wolves are always big items for Wendy M. Johnson, concessions operations manager, Northeastern Wisconsin Zoo, Greenbay, Wis. "The surprise for me was the snakes, I reordered and reordered and reordered those," she says.

Johnson says the majority of her stock is plush. "No one can resist a cute little stuffed animal looking up at them, the adults and the kids. You get both areas of the population with them," she says. Plush is merchandised with other items in the store, she says, and it is also displayed in merchandisers provided by manufacturers, hanging, in baskets, up on walls and in crates.

The trend is away from beanie plush, according to Cara Bileau, sales and marketing assistant, Liquid Blue Inc., Lincoln, R.I. Still, she says, the company is doing well with new pumpkin and snowman bears. Bunny bears for Easter and American pride bears are also expected to generate sales.

Novelty pieces with lots of vibrant colors are a trend according to Robert Kotzer, sales manager, Creature Comfort Toys Inc., Toronto, Canada. "Beanie plush has gone from hot to steady. We add value by adding embroidery and accessories. That market is a little stagnant, it's very competitive." For example, the company makes a bear with bathing trunks. You've got to do something different. You've got to put a twist on it," he says.

Susan C. Thomas, owner, Mansfield General Store, Mansfield, Ill., is not doing well with plush in her store and will be eliminating the category. "I will be eliminating any kind of plush unless I can get small enough quantities that they won't be sitting around too long," she says.

For Kevin Quest, who owns with his wife Jennifer, Jungle Quest, Oshkosh, Wis., the store's smaller jungle-themed plush is a good seller. All of the plush is displayed in the toy section. "From what I am seeing now the more inexpensive stuff is moving well, the expensive plush isn't moving as well," he says. Monkeys and snakes are the most popular items but plush in general has not done as well this year. "Plush was OK but not where it should be," he observes.

But plush is always a good seller for Bill Herrick, retail manager, Punderson Manor Resort, Newbury, Ohio. Herrick is in charge of one retail store at Punderson State Park. AMFAC Parks and Resorts operates the store and six others in Ohio parks. Herrick's shop is in Geauga County and Geauga is the Native American word for raccoon, so raccoon plush is always in stock. "I always keep plush raccoons in stock and they always do well," he says. The plush is kept in a large grapevine basket.

Tips to Succeed

Doing well with plush is a matter of careful buying and proper placement. Robert Zeif, vice president marketing and business development, Mary Meyer Corp., Townsend, Vt., recommends the company's custom merchandisers to sell its products. "We've tried to accent what the animal looks like. ..It catches the eye of the consumer," he says. Display is especially important when it comes to plush, and retailers should not just pile it on a shelf or the customer will lose interest.

"Merchandising is the key," says Haug. "Dress it up and let people see it with clothing and accessories. Merchandising is the entire key to it, to dress it up and put it on the shelf to give it eye appeal so people are drawn to it."

Hawking recommends getting the plush out in front of people, right by the front door so adults and children can see and touch it. It is also important to keep at least some of the plush at a child's eye level.

For plush puppets, Kollias says "the key is clever merchandising and demonstrating. Puppets, once they are animated, it brings them to life and people make emotional decisions based on that." Cross merchandising with books and music also works particularly well, she says.

"In order to sell plush today, we have always said about it that you have to romance plush. You have to have it assembled attractively where people can touch it," says Harold A. Nizamian, president and CEO, Timeless Toys, Hayward, Calif. Shelf talkers with the company's name and logo also help, he says. "Color is important. It is important that the retailer not display three, four pieces, that they go with at least 10 to 15 different varieties of the product so that the color will attract the buyer," he says.

"One of the mistakes is putting the plush up too high. It's attractive but you've got to get it where the customer can hold it. If they get that in their hand, they are going to buy the product," he adds. "Plush to a great extent it an impulse gift. Display it as attractively as you can in the best traffic spot you can put it."

Putting a few bears by the register and maintaining a separate, larger display elsewhere in the store can help move plush from Stately Bears [TM], says Lynda DeTray, owner. "We've found with the smaller bear having them right at the register is the best tool even if there are lust a few of them," she says. Another tip is to carry the entire line so collectors will shop the store again and again. And touch is a big selling point, DeTray says. "That's a big selling point, to be able to see how soft and cuddly they are and also to check out the tags. Our product does have information tags about each of the states," she says. Bileau also recommends carrying the company's entire line to keep collectors from going elsewhere.

Philip Savard, owner and designer, Prairie Pals [TM], Laurel, Md., says the best tip he can give to sell more plush is to make sure the fur isn't matted down from shipping before it is put out on display.

"The big thing is to make sure when they get the merchandise, to let the fur relax a little bit, to make sure that they realize that in shipping some compression will take place and they can stroke the fur to relax it. Don't just throw it on the shelf," he says. And retailers should stock a variety of poses. "When the customer sees there are several poses it becomes more of a collectible item," he says.

Keeping enough stock out is important to the puffkin line, says John Pouleson, President, Swibco, Lisle, Ill. "You've just got to put it out and people will buy it," Pouleson says. The line is also helped by its $6 price range.

All types of plush does well for Cathy Jackson, manager, Grizzly's Gifts, Anchorage, Alaska. The store carries a wide array of plush, from very small to jumbo, all with an Alaskan animal theme. It is displayed mainly in one spot off to one side in the front of the store, although some of the plush is mixed in with other merchandise and used to accent displays.

"People love plush. They really need to be able to touch and feel them though," Jackson says. She says the store manages to make the plush come alive. "Just the way we display them, they look interesting, irresistible and they have really good access to them," she says.

"Such a big part of the state is wildlife," she adds, and customers like to take home a plush replica of animals such as bear, moose and wolves that they have seen during their visit.