About a year ago Dana Rubinstein of The Brooklyn Paper wrote a story about Penguin Place. It came out before we had the new website and this blog space, so for your penguin reading pleasure here it is.
The world's largest online penguin paraphernalia retailer -- Brooklyn's
own "Penguin Place" -- is so ruffled by a Hollywood-inspired explosion
in penguin competition, that he's re-tooling his Web site.
"In a couple of years I went from being the only online penguin store, to one of a few," said
Eric Bennett, referring to the impact that the hit movies, "March
of the Penguins", Surf's Up" and "Happy Feet," had on his business. "The penguin
pie got bigger, but my sales have struggled just to stay the same." Bennett, an average-sized, youthful looking, dad-about-DUMBO, has operated his home based
www.penguin-place. com for about 10 years. But, this is the first time his
dominion over the online penguin paraphernalia business has been
challenged. Or even, frankly, noticed.
In response to competition Bennett, 47, will re-launch his ancient by internet standards web site later this month.
"My present 'Penguin Place' is ... very cute and quaint, and everyone
likes it, but it was built in 1997 and for the internet that's like
driving a Model T in the left lane of the interstate. Folks are
speeding past me on their way to the mall," he said.
Bennett has been in the business of selling penguin bric-a-brac for
over 20 years, his Web site preceded by actual retail outlets at South
St. Seaport in NYC and Harborplace in Baltimore.
Since 1997, he's run his Web site out of what he's dubbed "The Igloo"
-- a home office on the fifth floor of a decrepit old factory that some
call the "DUMBO Museum" for its apparent refusal to go luxury, like the
rest of its neighbors in Brooklyn's new SoHo.
The Igloo itself harkens back to a less orderly, pre-bar code age: An
old refridgerator is home to a small rookery of penguin stuffed
animals, penguin costumes hang from old pipes that run along the
ceiling, while boxes on shelves erupt with penguin onesies, T-shirts,
slippers, wallpaper border, and less mundane penguin items, like the
Waddling Penguin Pooper -- which, after you wind it up, deposits small
brown plastic candies from its behind (yes, it's a big seller).
One of the few penguin items not for sale is a bottle of Penguin Ale
given him by Rex Hunt, the former governor of the Falkland Islands,
home to the Rockhopper penguin.
Some of Bennett's most ardent buyers include members of the big city
philharmonics (apparently, because they resemble penguins in their
tuxedos and bowties), and a running group for overweight people called
"The Waddlers."
Bennett's entanglement with the Gentoos and Blackfoots of the world
began when he was a freshman at Queens College and dating his "first
real girlfriend."
"She liked gymnastics, the ballet, and she also liked penguins," said
Bennett. "Me being a normal 18-year-old guy, I had a choice, ballet
tickets or penguins. I started getting her penguins. And she
reciprocated. It sort of became known amongst our friends and family
that penguins were our thing. "When we split up in my junior year, I
had a major foothold in penguin paraphernalia," said Bennett.
A couple of years after graduating, Bennett visited Boston's Quincy
Market, which had just been revamped and was flush with stores selling
all manner of kitschy stuff.
There was an all pig shop called Hog Heaven, the Cow Pit with its stuffed cows and bovine salt-and-pepper
shakers, The Lefty Shop and even a unicorn store filled with "mythological things." So when
the South Street Seaport opened in New York a year later,
Bennett visited the Seaport and "on a dare from a friend" submitted an application to open a penguin
pushcart history was made.
And so, on May 15, 1985, "Next Stop South Pole" was hatched. The
ex-girlfriend, now a theater set designer designed the cart, and
Bennett filled it with penguin items he'd bought from toy and gift trade shows.
"The first week, my parents and grandparents would pull up chairs about 20 feet away,
near the food court, and just watch, because they couldn't comprehend
what I was doing. They needed to see me selling penguins for a living with their own eyes." said Bennett.
Soon, he moved into a kiosk, and then into a store on Pier 17. He
eventually had another location in Baltimore, seasonal carts in Miami and
Colorado, a mail-order catalog and a quarterly magazine about penguins
called "The Penguin Post."
Along the way, Bennett nurtured his love for penguins -- he says, "I've
never met a penguin or penguin lover I didn't like, which is more than I can say for
most people I've met."
Meanwhile, Bennett has had to adapt to a shifting business climate. In
the 1990s, as the rest of the city became more tourist friendly, South
Street Seaport lost its luster. And, the Internet grew. Soon, he ran
his business entirely online.
"By 2000, I was grossing more on-line than I was as a retail shop at the Seaport," said Bennett.
The ex-girlfriend, the progenitor of Bennett's penguin fixation, and
now a purchaser of merchandise for Disney theme parks, said she's not
surprised by Bennett's success.
"He definitely has an enterprising sort of spirit, so he's able to make it work," said the former flame, Robin Feinsot.
Bennett was typically humble about his accomplishments.
"I was 24 when I came up with the penguin concept," said Bennett. "The year before I thought a spooky carwash was a good idea."
Well, one out of two ain't bad.
A couple of weeks ago I sent out an order to a woman in California for her kids penguin themed birthday party. It was a fairly extensive order and from what she ordered it looked like it was going to be a very cool penguin party, but unfortunately I was out of stock of one item (10 penguin putty's). So, after calling my distributer and getting assurances that they would ship the penguin putty's out to me in a couple of days, I was able to promise my customer with confidence that the putty's would make in plenty of time for the party, and it was aggreed that they would be backordered. Everything was going according to plan. The putty's arrived here on schedule on the 7th and the Priority Mail web site told me the package would make it to the west coast by the 9th. So, with the party scheduled for the 12th I that the penguin putty's would arrive in plenty of time and this kids penguin party would be complete. Unfortunately, things are not so cut and dry when it comes to the USPS, and to my sad surprise my customer e-mailed me on the 16th to explain that the putty's finally arrived that day, a full 4 days after the party. Of course the USPS website showed that the package arrived on the 9th as did their customer service representative insist. Unfortunately, I didn't send the package signature confirmation, my reason being that if no one was home to sign for the package when it arrived it might be returned or end up on USPS limbo. So, faced with the reality that the putty's were 4 days late and of course believing my customer that they were indeed late. I proceeded to apologize and offer to send a return label for the tardy penguin putty's that were originally meant for the fun penguin party goody bags, but the mom of the penguin loving girl told me she'd keep them and that they'll come in handy for some gifts and treats in the future. We then began to talk about the party and our kids, after about 10 minutes I apologized for the tardy penguins one last time and bid her a good day. That night at dinner I told my 5 year old daughter Sophie the story of the missing penguin putty's that were suppose to arrive for this little girls birthday party. Sophie is very interested in kids birthday parties as well as goodie bags. She asked me all sorts of questions about the party, most of which I couldn't answer because I had no details other than it was a penguin themed party and that it was missing some penguin putty. So, the next morning I sent an e-mail to the mom telling her my daughter was interested in the party and if she wouldn't mind sharing some party details with me. Later that day I received an e-mail of a wild, crazy and fun penguin slumber party which I shared with Sophie to her utter delight.
After another e-mail and getting permission from this west coast penguin loving family to publish the party details you can now share in this waddling merriment as well. Here's the e-mail in its entirety. "I don't know how old your sophie is, but my emily is turning 11 on friday. i hope sophie is of an age where a description of emily's party will be interesting:
it was a penguin-themed slumber party extravaganza with 10 girls. there were penguin decorations everywhere (lights, figurines, black & white balloons [with a few orange for the beak], stuffed animal penguins perched on every available surface -- you get the picture). all the girls were dressed in black & white, and they wore penguin masks. we had penguin-shaped ice cubes in the drinks, penguin napkins, black plates and white utensils. emily designed her own penguin birthday cake, which was a real work of art, if i do say so myself.
the girls painted penguin figurines in exotic colors (neon pinks and greens, for eg -- remember this is san francisco) and drank delicious penguin hot chocolate. and then, because it was freakishly hot last saturday night, we decided to take everyone out in their p.j.s and slippers at 10 p.m. for a neighborhood stroll. emily of course had to bring her giant 5-foot-tall inflatable emperor penguin ("herman") along. the girls hoisted him aloft at the head of the procession and chanted, over and over again, "power to the penguin" -- quite vociferously, i might add. passing cars honked their horns in penguin solidarity, and people called down approvingly from their upstairs windows. a bus passed by, and a lone woman wearing a long bridal veil waved to the girls with a gloved hand. a group of buddhist monks, their robes glowing orange in the dark, passed by with big smiles; one of them was pushing an infant in a pram (since when do monks have babies, sophie?). we came to a playground and the girls raced around in the dark, shrieking with joy, spinning on a giant tire swing and hurling themselves down the slide. emily's dad and i understood that these 10 girls are straddling that fine line between childhood and middle school, and we got a little sniffly watching them play with such abandon. and then, (maybe you should edit this part for sophie, eric) all 10 girls spontaneously decided to moon the moon, which they did (along with several cars passing on oak street, probably.) luckily no one was arrested. it was an enchanted night, and quite surreal.
the girls stayed up until 5 a.m., and then woke promptly at 7. we had a gorgeous breakfast (sticky cinnamon rolls and cold pizza -- yum) and reminisced about the night's adventures. when the girls left, they each got a party bag with penguin pencils, penguin key chains, penguin gummi candies, penguin mood rings, penguin stickers, penguin parachutists, penguin hot chocolate packets, and caramels. the bags were quite stuffed, so it was o.k. that we didn't have the penguin putty!"
maybe if sophie likes penguins too, and if she's old enough (and young enough), she can have her own penguin slumber party someday! we will be happy to advise you on the finer points of such an enterprise.
hope this answers most of sophie's questions!
A few weeks ago I received an e-mail from a college film student named Samantha Polan. It went something like this. Hi Eric,
How are you? Wow, I must say that I love Penguins and I love your
site. My name is Samantha and I'm a film student at Florida State
University, I am coming to New York this week to do a documentary
about independent businesses owners who have found their own
niche in the retail world. I would love to interview you and learn more
about The Igloo. I am so intrigued by your business and your reasons
for starting your business. I know this is so soon, but I just found
you tonight and are very excited at the prospect of getting to meet
with you! Please get back to me as soon as possible, I will be in the
city March 11th and can come by and meet with you. Hope to hear from
you soon.Thank you, Samantha Polan. How could I say anything but yes.
Samantha and her crew of two showed up on the 11th and what was suppose to be a one afternoon shoot turned into 3 days of filming and interviewing. They even blew off their other projects to continue working on the Penguin Place story. Her idea is to make the 7 minute documentary school project and then edit a half hour film to shop around and possibly show at film festivals. So far I've not seen a frame of footage, but as this is probably a final class project it should be ready sometime in May.
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