How London's rubber duck stores stay above water

If it looks similar a duck, swims similar a duck and quacks similar a duck — past it could beryllium 1 of the rubber specimens lining the shelves of Duck World, a drawstring of colorful stores that are staying afloat  as hundreds of different London retailers close their doors. 

Duck World's 700-strong rubber flock comprises each size, formal and profession, with a store worker telling CNBC that fashionable models see the superhero-inspired "Spidy Duck" and the tourer favourite "Telephone Booth" duck. Some are fluffy, ceramic oregon alteration color, though not each are designed to get wet.

The institution has 4 brick-and-mortar stores successful London — each successful premier existent property locations — and 1 successful Miami. But with terms tags ranging from £5 to triple digits, and data inactive singing the diminution of the U.K.'s retail sector, determination are questions implicit however Duck World is getting by.

It turns retired immoderate of the hurdles facing broader British retail are affecting Duck World, too.

"The past mates of months person been rather challenging," Irina Fedotova, fintech-worker-turned-Duck-World-co-founder, told CNBC successful a July 14 interview. Alongside her concern spouse Filip Perkon, she opened the archetypal of Duck World's shops — dubbed "nests" — successful January 2023 with the ngo to "spread happiness."

But sticky U.K. inflation, nationalist wage increases and concern complaint alleviation cuts person been piling connected the pressure, with Fedotova admitting that Duck World has had to rise prices crossed its merchandise lines successful caller months. 

Still, she has religion successful Duck World — "The rubber duck has ever been specified an iconic thing" — and its ongoing entreaty to tourists, acquisition seekers and collectors.

"The mean purchaser is, surprisingly, a millennial," Fedotova said.

On a little stakeout astatine 2 Duck World establishments, CNBC observed shoppers ranging from rambunctious toddlers to middle-aged tourists. One lawsuit told CNBC that her latest acquisition was a duck for her kids to usage arsenic people signifier with their h2o guns.

"I deliberation immoderate of these shops astatine slightest person a reasonably loyal lawsuit base," retail expert and JDM Retail CEO Jonathan De Mello told CNBC by phone, noting a definite immunity that collectibles person successful the look of macroeconomic downturns. "Duck World is 1 of those sorts of businesses."

De Mello suggested Duck World could execute an "extremely high" instrumentality connected its rubber duck sales, arsenic "gross borderline volition beryllium 70% minimum — possibly 80-85%, thereabout," nether the presumption of debased earthy worldly and accumulation costs.  

Most of Duck World's products are designed successful the U.K. — and galore are manufactured successful China, Fedotova said. The concern was, therefore, affected by the retaliatory tit-for-tat betwixt Washington and Beijing that brought tariffs into the triple-digit percentages successful April.  

"We are looking for alternatives [to importing from China]," Fedotova said, but added that producing the products successful the U.S. conscionable doesn't adhd up.

Capacity and infrastructure person agelong cemented China's monopoly connected artifact production, though expanding geopolitical risks and the dangers of an overreliance connected 1 state exposed during the Covid-19 pandemic person propelled immoderate toymakers to diversify.

Mainland China inactive accounted for 71.4% of planetary exports of toys successful the six months to May 31 this twelvemonth — edging down from the 76.9% of first-half 2019, according to information shared by S&P Global Market Intelligence with CNBC. By contrast, the U.S. produced conscionable 1.1% of worldwide artifact exports successful the six months to the extremity of May 2025.

Producing rubber ducks successful the U.S. isn't impossible. CelebriDucks, a shaper of personage licensed rubber ducks, boasts that its flock is "made 100% successful America," with starts successful Ohio and last accumulation successful Michigan.

Beyond proviso chains, retail expert De Mello warns that 1 hazard origin for businesses peddling tiny mundane luxuries is the emergence and autumn successful favour of alleged "treatonomics" — a large user inclination of 2024, according to Barclays. It found that 46% of Brits "say they prioritise spending connected small, affordable, mood-boosting luxuries specified arsenic pastries and cosmetics, adjacent portion tightening budgets."

"You could lump these small rubber ducks into that benignant of treatonomics," De Mello said.

He noted, however, that immoderate collectibles are "fads," and "because it is simply a customer-base that is finite … determination is simply a bounds to ... that level that abstraction that you've got to give to these things."

Yet adjacent extracurricular of Duck World, rubber ducks proceed to entreaty and instrumentality pridefulness of spot successful galore of London's galore souvenir stores. In Vienna, rubber ducks impersonating Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and targeted astatine tourists fetched a handsome 14-euro terms ($16.40) tag.

Toys wide person been riding a high: SumUp found that successful 2024, games and artifact stores logged the second-highest summation successful U.K. store openings since 2020. Internationally, meanwhile, Popmart's Labubu dolls person enjoyed meteoric fame aft going viral connected societal media.

The "trendification" of collectibles tin travel astir from archetypal feelings of amusive oregon nostalgia triggered by an item, "then idiosyncratic other spots it and it benignant of snowballs from there," Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, prof of user science astatine Anglia Ruskin University, told CNBC by email.

"All of a sudden, the small items are presumption symbols. Not having 1 whitethorn truthful marque radical consciousness inferior, a feeling radical don't similar and specified feelings tin thrust radical to bargain one," she said. "With galore collectors' items, they are driven by societal values, truthful erstwhile they are trending connected TikTok, it is astir inevitable that the TikTok users volition privation one, immoderate that whitethorn be."

Jansson-Boyd stressed that buyers volition typically beryllium "dictated by their purse strings" and inactive chopped backmost connected tiny luxury purchases successful the look of economical hardships — but the idiosyncratic worth attached to a collectible tin play its part.

"Such worth incorporates aspects specified arsenic feelings of happiness, belonginess to a radical and societal enactment with different collectors. In immoderate cases, the worth tin besides beryllium successful presumption of however what they cod represents who they are oregon who they privation to be," she said.  

But being trendy comes with its ain risks.

"What happens erstwhile you go little fashionable?  … tin you inactive spend the rent?" De Mello questioned.

Duck World's spot successful London's rental and retail satellite has been met with immoderate questions, including implicit the legitimacy of the business.

"[I was amazed by] the fig of times, adjacent erstwhile we perceive it successful passing, that radical would station connected Twitter, 'Are they wealth laundering?'" Fedotova said, categorically denying the allegations. "It's comic that radical are truthful speedy to accuse."

Skepticism of tiny businesses popping up connected Britain's precocious thoroughfare has mounted implicit the years aft immoderate U.S.-style "candy shops" were linked to illicit activities. 

Local authorities person been cracking down connected specified establishments, peculiarly connected and astir London's high-traffic Oxford Street — a little than 20-minute locomotion distant from Duck World's flagship store successful Charing Cross.

"Sweet occurrence for @Citywestminster: the fig of U.S. candy stores connected Oxford Street has dropped to the lowest ever fig of 16 from a pandemic precocious of 40. Seizures of unsafe goods positive relentless pursuit of unpaid concern rates is making beingness pugnacious for unscrupulous traders," Westminster City Councilor Adam Hug said July 11.

Duck World, though, is simply a morganatic business. It posted a tiny profit successful the twelvemonth to the extremity of March, 2024, and Britain's Network Rail — landlord of the chain's Liverpool Street and London Bridge presumption stores — told CNBC by email that "the Duck World units person been a fashionable and colourful summation to our pop-up enactment up."

Despite skepticism implicit Duck World's origins, a pugnacious retail situation and a emergence successful shoplifting, Fedotova struck an optimistic tone: "Crime's high, taxes are high, the wages are high, but ducks persist."