Plushie push: Adults squeeze into stuffed animal market

Millennials and Gen Z aren’t outgrowing their stuffed animals — they’re doubling down. 

Whether it’s a 5-foot plush goose from TikTok Shop or $25 Jellycat fish and chips, young adults are fueling the plushie boom.

While toy sales dipped 1% in early 2024, that was an improvement from the 8% drop in 2023, thanks largely to adults buying toys for themselves, according to market research company Circana.

In the last quarter of 2024, purchases by those 18 and over totaled $1.5 billion — more than sales for toddlers. “While the toy industry is feeling the heat, it is ripe with opportunity,” Juli Lennett, Circana’s vice president, said in a statement to Business Insider.

Plushies, in particular, are on the rise, with a Mintel report showing stuffed toys rivaling Lego in popularity. “Plushies are kind of hot right now,” analyst Brian Benway told Business Insider.

Social media has made it easier to embrace the habit. “A lot of people are taking the approach that, well, I don’t care if other people think this is dumb,” Mr. Benway said.

Even celebrities are in on it. 

“Lady Gaga posted a picture of her bed just absolutely covered in Squishmallows,” he said. “So if Lady Gaga can do that, anybody can.”

With the stuffed toy market projected to grow 8.2% annually through 2030 — according to market research firm Grand View Research — it seems adults won’t be letting go of their plushies anytime soon. 

Some see the trend as nostalgia-fueled stress relief, but others call it a sign of delayed adulthood. 

Even so, surveys suggest that 40% of American adults still sleep with plushies, and 43% still own at least one from childhood, according to a report in The Atlantic.

Many psychologists say there’s nothing unusual about it. According to The New York Times, plushies belong to a category termed “transitional objects” to describe comfort items that help children move toward independence, so-called by Donald Winnicott, a British pediatrician and psychoanalyst. 

“Kids love stuffed animals,” sleep psychologist Jade Wu told The Atlantic. “It’s because they’re cozy and … just personified enough to provide a bit of social comfort. We adults can do the same thing.”

That comfort extends beyond childhood. A 2016 study found that clutching a stuffed animal in therapy helped college students stay emotionally grounded, while other research suggests plush toys can physically ease stress by lowering cortisol levels.

And some adults rediscovered plush toys during the pandemic. 

“I grabbed a polar bear from my childhood bedroom to ward off the onslaught of bad news and fear,” journalist Sarah Gannett wrote in The New York Times. 

The resurgence of plush toys also has been fueled by social media. Online communities proudly showcase vast Squishmallow collections, such as those found in multiple Reddit forums.

“It went from being an embarrassment … to today, when Gen Z and millennials proudly play,” toy-industry consultant Richard Gottlieb told NPR.

Not everyone approves. A Philadelphia Magazine article scolded millennials to “get over your blankies and stuffed animals and grow up already.” 

Some see the trend as a symptom of delayed adulthood, as younger generations struggle with milestones such as homeownership and marriage. 

“It’s harder to be an adult these days,” wrote Joshua Paul Dale, a scholar of “cute studies” at Chuo University, in his book “Irresistible: How Cuteness Wired Our Brains and Conquered the World.” 

But others see it more sympathetically. 

“Adulthood and power don’t only look one way,” Emory University professor Erica Kanesaka told The Atlantic. “Rather than accept the idea that we must be hard and masculine, stuffed animals can help people embrace a softer and gentler kind of adulthood.”