Once Upon A Deb

When we first opened we knew we wanted to have something fun, lovable, and above all else- squishy. So we made custom Deb plushies! They were the coolest thing we'd ever seen. (But we may be biased.) As the years went on we started to sell out of our original stock, and in return kept getting adorable pictures of lil' Dog Ear customers snuggled up in bed with their new dolly (a trade we'd make any day). When we went to reorder we were hit was some yucky news. The price to make them had gone up to nearly 4x as much as the first order. Obviously, we weren't going to be able to afford that, which made us sad.

Then, we went to try one more time and see if there was any affordable option. We love seeing kids running (I mean, walking) around the store with a Deb tucked under their arm, already loving the plush they had just discovered. Well, we were finally able to hit a price point that we could swing, but in order to do that we have to charge the same amount as the 12" Deb for the new 6" Deb. We know some people may balk at this- heck, we probably would, too! But providing those plushies for kids to make memories with is at the heart of these squishy dogs. Not to make money.

So, this Christmas season, if you see a much smaller Deb that still has a $20 price point- just know that small businesses rarely get the opportunity to make something like this, and we're doing what we can with what we have.

Thank you for coming to this Ted Talk.

-Emily