Zoobies: The Cuddly Toy for Kids All the Time

April 01, 2008

Sometimes it pays to be a kid. OK, a lot of times it pays to be a kid, especially during playtime and naptime. And definitely if you're a kid with a Zoobie. The brainchild of brothers JC and Reid Smoot, Zoobie pets are a combination of stuffed animal, pillow and blanket, all rolled into one. A child can play with a Zoobie as a stuffed animal, unfold it to become a pillow and then unfold the pillow to make a blanket. The Smoots came up with the idea when they were working for a company that made blankets and pillows, and they've turned Zoobies into their own Provo, Utah-based business that launched at the February 2007 Toy Fair in New York.

Not only are Zoobies soft and cuddly, they lend themselves to embroidery, unlike other stuffed animals. "When the blanket is out, you can embroider on the blanket, the animal or both," says Ryan Treft, vice president of marketing. The company didn't even intend to market to embroiderers originally. But on a trip to the Dallas market, the brothers saw one of their distributors had an embroidered Zoobie, and their sales in the embroidery market have started to catch on.

Julie Brilliant, owner of Punkinseed, a Bloomfield Hills, Mich., embroidery business, embroidered her daughter's Zoobie, found that it worked out perfectly and has added the stuffed-animal combinations to her line. "We've probably embroidered about 100 of them since November," she says. "Most people request the name on both the back of the stuffed animal and on the blanket." She notes that they're very easy to work with, although she always hoops the fabric to keep it centered. "I don't always hoop my work, but it helps on Zoobies, and they're easy to hoop."

Even though embroidery is a great outlet for Zoobies, the Smoots have not marketed specifically to that segment yet. Treft says that the company has plans to do so. Embroiderers can order Zoobies wholesale on-line, and the company has distributors throughout the United States and in 19 other countries. They've grown from zero customers to about 900 total in about a year. While FAO Schwarz carries some animals, Zoobies has said "no" to most large stores and works primarily with locally owned businesses.

Zoobies are made in China, and the company has its own office there. Reid Smoot moved to China to oversee everything and ensure there are no safety issues, particularly since the product is for children. "It's good to have somebody over there," says Treft.