Ganz Monkeys Around With Plush Toy Display

When experimenting with P-O-P display ideas, some companies just go ape. Linda Moritz, director of product development for plush toys at Ganz Inc., says she hopes to break new ground with the Monkey Paradise Palm Tree display.Why? Because stuffed-toy merchandising is just too stuffy. Moritz says retailers typically stack plush toys haphazardly on a shelf or dump them into baskets on wire displays. Neither merchandising approach appeals to children, she says, who respond best to toys that seem more active and alive.Executives at Ganz, based in Woodbridge, Ontario, Canada, think kids will respond to Monkey Paradise, a plywood display that is crawling with chimps, gibbons and orangutans. The display, which was designed and manufactured by Ruszel Woodworks, Benicia, Calif., consists of a 5-foot-tall cut-out tree on a wood island. A rope ladder hangs from the palm tree and can hold as many as five stuffed monkeys. The toys have fabric fasteners sewed to their paw pads and feet, enabling them to hang and interconnect with one another.Ganz, best known for its plush bears, sells toys in the United States, Canada and Europe through gift shops, independent toy stores and department stores. The company developed an assortment of toy monkeys dressed in colorful resort wear specifically for Monkey Paradise. "Most of us look at monkeys as being humanistic," she says. "We got to thinking that sooner or later, these wonderful characters would go on vacation." Other animals, such as hippos in swimsuits, will be added to the line if retailer acceptance is strong.Ganz executives originally envisioned a display that was "a wooden jungle gym," Moritz says. "But it was too massive and too cumbersome." She worked with designer Jack Ruszel to simplify the concept. The resulting display takes retailers approximately five minutes to construct using a screwdriver. It consists of an island base, a two-piece trunk and three palm fronds. It is shipped flat in a carton direct from Ruszel Woodworks. The monkeys are shipped separately from the Ganz warehouse in Ontario.Retailers who purchase a selection of Monkey Paradise toys qualify to purchase the display for $92. The suggested retail price of the individual toys ranges from $20 to $28. "We have high hopes for this display," Moritz says. "We ordered 250 and now think sales may surpass that. We began taking orders at the end of May and shipped our first displays the third week of June."Moritz says monkeys always sell well because they are timeless. She's less certain about the display's permanence: "This is something so new for us that we haven't a clue how long it is going to last. But we think it is something that will wind up being a prop for a store."

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