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“Plush is such a beloved product, it actually appeals to all ages,” says Dee Dee Valencia, manager of product & market development at Aurora in Pico Rivera, CA, which has more than 3,000 plush products. The buyer is usually female, and she may be purchasing for herself or as a gift.


When developing new products, the Aurora team looks at trends in all consumer goods: fashion, handbags, sporting goods, tech, fabrics, entertainment, and more. Currently, they’re seeing naturals as a popular color palette, along with pink and purple for girls, with teal rising in the ranks. “Chevron, animal, and gradient patterns are very popular in fashion and we use them as both primary and secondary enhancements in our various lines of plush, cloth dolls, puppets and other soft piece types,” Valencia adds.


In the case of plush, Aurora’s found that bigger is better, and has a sizable offering


of larger plush to meet the


demand. “One giant trend is oversize toys that are truly larger than life for smaller kids,” says Adrienne Appell, a TIA toy trends specialist. “The scale of the building sets, dollhouses, plush, and RC vehicles that we’ve been seeing packs an extra wow factor.”


While some toys span age ranges, others are experiencing a narrowing in demographics. “Over the last 10 years,


HABA USA


FAMOSA NORTH AMERICA INC.


we’ve really seen a change or compression on nurturing dolls,” says Marybeth King, vice president of sales at Famosa North America in Mt. Laurel, NJ. “I remember playing with dolls until I was 9 or 10, but now girls play with baby dolls until they’re 4 or 5, then they’re already bridging into the fashion doll arena.” As a result, Famosa has made its Nancy fashion dolls bigger (17 inches vs. the typical 11), which allows younger children with less dexterity to more easily change the doll’s outfi ts. With any toys you carry, King recommends being


P’KOLINO 150 GIFT SHOP n Summer 2014


focused. “You always have to make a statement in whatever you purchase,” she says. “I’ve been in stores where a


GiftShopMag.com


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