With six successful mascot companies the GTA, Toronto is a North American leader in the mascot-making business.
The Torontoist explores the inner-workings of this unique and surprisingly lucrative industry.
"While mascot companies exist across the world, Toronto is arguably
North America's mascot-making capital, with at least six companies in
the GTA. "They don't congregate elsewhere in the way that they do in
Toronto," says Mike Chudleigh, president of 1-800-Mascots (yes, that
really is the company's name)."
"How could there possibly be enough demand to sustain such an industry?
Phil Woollam, a graduate of OCAD's sculpture program and an employee of
1-800-Mascots, explains it simply: "Everything has a mascot."
"Glancing around the shop, it seems that Woollam's not wrong.
Everywhere you look among the controlled chaos--bolts of fabric and faux
fur, scraps of foam, piles of other unlikely and unrecognizable
materials--you see characters sporting familiar brand names."
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original source the
Torontoist