Plush Endeavors: An Analysis of the Modern American Soft-Toy Industry

This article analyzes recent developments in a burgeoning American consumer industry in the light manufacturing sector during the 1970s and 1980s. In terms of demand, soft-toy, or “plush,†production provides insights into impulse buying by a variety of income groups in a postindustrial economy, and it suggests the volatile nature of American consumer interest in low-value, disposable commodities. On the supply side, plush offers a particularly good example of an industry that has been sensitive to changes in cost, moving production around Third World countries while using information technology to improve distribution and to retain design control at home. The industry thus illustrates the response of American entrepreneurs to the internationalization of both supply and demand.