He gets wistful recalling Pete the Repeat Parrot-an animatronic bird that talks back to you-and the Pinhead, a box with thousands of pins suspended through holes that you can shape into a sculpture. Soon he was selling to mass retailers like Walgreens and CVS: “I was basically sleeping in the office because if I went home, I would never get up.” Suddenly his manufacturers in Taiwan were filling entire shipping containers for delivery direct to big retail chains. “You squeeze the air bulb and the pants come down and you moon the guy next to you,” explains Flaherty. Next came Seymour Buns-a rubber doll with a suction cup on his back that you stick onto your car window.
#KOHLS GAG GIFTS DRIVERS#
The first was called the Blaster, introduced in 1987, which the Chicago Tribune described at the time as: “a dashboard-mounted joystick that lets drivers pretend to shoot, blast or bomb annoying drivers, complete with appropriate sound effects.” Its bizarre success enabled Flaherty to license characters for more dashboard-mounted distractions, including Darth Vader, Pumpkin King Jack Skellington and a Homer Simpson who at the push of a button would blurt out, “What is this, National Stupid Driver’s Day?!” By 1989 he had scored with three hot items that boosted sales tenfold to $20 million. He rapidly moved down the sophistication ladder. The first products he ever imported were high-end pens by Mont-Blanc and Cross. After feeling strangled by a corporate job working with IBM mainframe computers, Flaherty founded Gemmy in 1984 at 23 based on the conviction that “If I’m going to work my butt off, I might as well do it for myself.” “Hard work was not a challenge, just something you did.” He went to school at the University of Dallas, where he also got his M.B.A. He grew up in Kansas City in the 1970s with four brothers and a sister, and worked at the country club 100 hours a week, if he could get it. Laherty may belong in the kitsch hall of fame, but says he prefers staying under the radar and flying commercial. Even Walmart CEO Doug McMillon, on an earnings call last fall, hailed inflatables as easy to sell: “Like, we’re going to blow out of some of those.” Sales of huggable plush toys also surged by a third during the pandemic this translated into high demand last season for Gemmy’s 8-foot-tall inflatable teddy bear, covered in a lightweight polyester fur. “After all the pandemic restrictions forced upon people during a season that’s about family and love and tradition, it’s not surprising that for both Halloween and the holidays people felt they just had permission to spend money and have fun,” says Phil Risk, an executive vice president at Prosper Insights, which surveys 8,000 shoppers and found that last year Americans spent a record $15.7 billion on December holiday decorations, and a record $3.4 billion on Halloween. That is, people’s need to feel comforted and safe, to build an oasis. And they are emblematic of one of the biggest consumer trends of the pandemic era: homesteading. In recent years these air-blown characters have come to dominate holiday lawn art in the American suburbs. This list makes it easy to stay on budget, whether you're on the hunt for a birthday, Secret Santa or an inexpensive Christmas gift, especially at the last minute.Dan Flaherty and longtime CEO Jason McCann AARON KOTOWSKI FOR FORBES Maybe you’re shopping for a coworker or adult you don’t know too well, or you’re looking for a cheap yet meaningful gift for your spouse. If you’re looking for something more sentimental, like custom jewelry for her or a keychain for him, we’ve also found a number of personalized gift ideas from Amazon and Etsy.
Our curated list includes cool kitchen gadgets perfect for your mom or loving dad, a cozy blanket for your thoughtful grandma and entertaining games any teenager will love. You’ll find the perfect gift no matter who you’re shopping for, whether they are travel-obsessed, could use a good laugh or love the latest TikTok finds. Luckily for you, we’ve rounded up more than 50 funny and unique gifts for under $20 for him or her that are still super thoughtful. Just because you don’t want to (or can’t afford to) spend a lot of money, doesn’t mean you need to settle on a boring gift. You have a ton of gifts to buy, especially during the holiday season, and it can quickly become expensive.
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