Jellycat comes to Chicago, fueling "kidulting" trend
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
A very large version of the Jellycat created for Chicago. Photo: Carrie Shepherd/Axios
Move over Labubu, Jellycat is here.
The London-based company has a new pop-up store in Chicago and it's not just kids and tweens lining up.
The big picture: Jellycat is part of the "kidulting" trend — adults dropping serious cash to build toy collections. Labubu, Legos, and even Hot Wheels fall into this category.
- These products have helped bump up sales in the toy industry in the last year.
Driving the news: Jellycat opened its second U.S. location recently at Nordstrom on Michigan Avenue. The first is located at FAO Schwarz in New York.
- Jellycat even created a Chicago-specific plushie — a carrot cake with a candle. (Admittedly, confused on this ... isn't the brownie Chicago's official dessert?)
Flashback: Brothers Thomas and William Gatacre launched JellyCat in London in 1999 to create a new spin on the traditional teddy bear. The first character was a black cat named Jake Jellycat.
- Plushies now range from bunnies to hot dogs to coffee cups, really anything you can imagine, all with a cute little smile on their face.
- Prices start at $20 and go higher than $200.
State of play: Older customers are driving up sales of Jellycat and other toys.
- "The surge in sales [in 2025] can largely be attributed to consumers aged over 12 years old, who have shown unprecedented growth and are consistently outperforming traditional kids' trends," Frédérique Tutt, toy analyst from research firm Circana, said earlier this year.
- "Products such as building sets, trading cards, games, plush toys, and collectibles are seeing increased demand from both teens and adults."
- The plush industry, in particular, has grown 102% from 2019-2024, according to the Toy Association.
The intrigue: The Toy Foundation announced in 2022 a "Grown-up Toy of the Year" in its annual awards, describing the category as toys that are "often fueled by fandoms, social media, and adult humor, while they are not 'adult toys' nor sexual in nature."
The bottom line: Like any club or fab, adults buying Jellycat is about belonging and feeling part of the group.
- And if the regular lines at Chicago's Jellycat store are any indication, plenty of people are seeking that right now.