Plush Animals Adopted by Stars Is Brainchild of Portland, Ore. Teenager
PORTLAND, Ore., Oct. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Fred Meyer is the only store to
offer an exciting new line of products this fall created by a Portland-area
teenager and her father that already is receiving national media attention,
including an article in "People" magazine and appearances scheduled for the
"Tonight Show" and "Today Show."
The new company, called Stars in the Wild, is the brainchild of
14-year-old Erica Summers of Wilsonville, Ore. She co-founded it a year ago
with her father, Jeff, working in the living room of their home south of
Portland, Oregon, designing the new company and products. Stars in the Wild
pairs celebrities with threatened animals which they adopt to help educate all
who buy the stuffed animals about dangers facing the real animals. Portions
of all sales are donated to environmental organizations.
Jeff Summers is president of the company headquartered in Wilsonville.
Erica, who is a freshman at Jesuit High School in Portland, has the official
title of caretaker. They worked together for a year designing the animals,
hand-sewing the first ones in their home. Jeff traveled extensively to find
the best fabrics and to get help with designs and production. More than
100 versions of the animals were created and tested to come up with the most
realistic replicas. Erica tried out many of them on her eighth-grade friends
at Wood Middle School in Wilsonville, where she was student body president.
The first commercial test was this past summer. A limited edition of a
white Bengal tiger adopted by the pop music super group *NSYNC was sold over
the Internet on the company's web site at http://www.starsinthewild.com.
The response was so positive that the company moved ahead with production
of seven animals for its Premiere Collection and approached Fred Meyer to be
the first retailer in the country to sell the collection. The animals will
not be available outside of Fred Meyer until 2001, when the family will market
the products nationally and internationally.
"We chose Fred Meyer to introduce these wonderful products because our
family has grown up shopping at Fred Meyer. It's a great family store. And
Fred Meyer is a great Pacific Northwest partner to help us launch the product
line close to home while we gear up production to handle demand in national
and international markets next year," Jeff Summers, the president of Stars in
the Wild, said.
"Plus, I love Fred Meyer," Erica added. "I grew up shopping there and am
really excited to see our products in Freddy's Toy World. Now I can tell
everyone, 'You'll find it at Freddy's'."
Each animal in the collection features high-quality plush construction and
interactive features. Push the star on the animal's leg to see its eyes light
up and hear the animal's voice and habitat sounds.
"My mission is to raise awareness about wildlife and the environment
-- especially in teens," Erica said. "That's why we decided to approach some
of my favorite stars to help. At first, it was scary to ask them to join us.
But I soon learned how many of them share my concerns and were excited about
joining our efforts to raise awareness and raise money for environmental
organizations. Right now, we have seven terrific stars that have adopted
animals and are using their star power to promote our positive message. And
more are on the way. We have plans for a total of 24 animals and their stars
in our Premiere Collection."
The seven animals now in the Premiere Collection and their adoptive stars
include the white Bengal tiger adopted by *NSYNC (pop music super group); baby
harp seal and Cindy Crawford (model and actress); polar bear and Christina
Aguilera (pop music star); African elephant and Melissa Joan Hart (TV star of
"Sabrina, the Teenage Witch"); black leopard and Tiffani-Amber Thiessen (TV
star); gorilla and Jenny Garth (TV star); and koala bear and Mandy Moore (MTV
vjay and pop music star).
Fred Meyer Stores is based in Portland, Oregon and features
127 multidepartment stores in Oregon, Washington, Alaska, Idaho, and Utah that
offer one-stop shopping for a wide range of food, apparel, and general
merchandise products. It is part of The Kroger Co. (NYSE: KR), headquartered
in Cincinnati, Ohio, which is the nation's largest retail grocery chain.
SOURCE Fred Meyer Stores
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Related links:
http://www.fredmeyerstores.com
CONTACT:
Rob Boley at Fred Meyer Stores, 503-797-7176,
or Jeff Summers at Stars in the Wild, 503-582-1551, or Julie
Nathanson at Rogers & Cowan, 310-201-8891
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