Richard Gottlieb

My trip to Australia; Zhu Zhu Pets are Go Go Pets and I get to pet a wombat…carefully

I am currently in Perth, Australia for of a week of mostly work and a bit of enjoyment. I was invited by a client to speak to their company shareholders. There were roughly 150 people in attendance and it was nice to see that kind of broad support for my client’s business in particular and the toy industry in general.

Perth is an interesting and beautiful city as it is perched on the Indian Ocean with no other major Australian city within 1,000 miles. It was a long trip (25 total hours in the air) but worth it as this is a beautiful place.

I had a chance to walk around downtown for a little while today and it’s interesting to see the differences and similarities between America and Australia. For example, I visited a Target store (yes, they have Target here). I spoke to a clerk who informed me that they did not have Liv or Moxie Girlz dolls yet but other stores did and they were on the way.

Then I asked her the big question, where were the Zhu Zhu Pets.  The clerk had never heard of Zhu Zhu Pets but had sold out of Go Go Pets. You guessed it; Zhu Zhu Pets are Go Go Pets here and despite the different name seem to sell just as fast. It’s a worldwide hit.

All is not business, however, as in the afternoon, my hosts took me to the Swan River which is, as it turns out, aptly named because it is home to flocks of black swans (not a white one in sight). They are beautiful, coal black birds with red beaks. Some of the beaks have a white racing stripe down the middle. It was really a special event seeing them and a host of other really strange and wonderful looking birds.

Kangaroos run wild here and I did get to pet one as well as a koala which as I was cautioned, is no longer referred to as a bear. He’s a marsupial. You could have fooled me. 

I saw, but did not touch, some Tasmanian devils which are actually pretty cute. They look a bit like a ground hog with fake vampire teeth. And, oh yes, the wombat; I had the chance to pet one of those as well.  

It’s been a great trip but I am looking forward to getting back home. By the way, the water does swirl the opposite way when it goes down the drain. 

Posted by Richard Gottlieb on October 18, 2009 | Comments (3)