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Toronto Makes Mascots that Represent

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."

read full story here
original source the Torontoist
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