A bright-yellow shop in California has achieved more sales than they ever could have imagined, despite only selling one niche item – toy ducks.
Kwak, a whimsical spot at Pier 39 in San Francisco that is considered ‘the largest rubber duck store West of the Mississippi’, quickly turned profitable after the owners, Joanne Calabrese and John Walton, opened its doors in June 2023.
But what started on a ‘bit of a whim’ morphed into a thriving business – partly due to the unusual fanatic duck-swapping traditions of Jeep owners and cruisegoers, The San Francisco Standard reported.
‘Within a month, I was like “this is crazy,”‘ Calabrese told the outlet. ‘I didn’t know we could do this much business.’
Kwak offers nearly 600 variations of rubber ducks, including holiday, Taylor Swift and Willie Nelson inspired toys.
Additionally, the shop is filled with career-inspired ducks, sassy ‘duck you’ ducks, political ducks, large ducks, tiny ducks and of course, classic bathtub ducks.
‘We really hit you in the face with ducks when you walk in and make you laugh immediately,’ Calabrese told the outlet.
Their success was unexpected and left ‘folks agog’, as Walton phrased it.
Kwak offers nearly 600 variations of rubber ducks. The store in San Francisco is seen above
The shelves in the store are filled with a variety of ducks
‘I mean, we can’t believe it either,’ he added.
One ecstatic man from Singapore walked out of the shop with 48 ducks – ultimately breaking the record for the largest shopping spree ever preformed at Kwak.
Just last year, Kwak sold a whopping 50,000 rubber ducks – more then they could’ve ever imagined from their impulsive idea that turned into reality.
But it wasn’t just duck-lovers and tourists that led to the booming business – it was a peculiar tradition that happens to revolve around the use of a rubber duck.
Jeep owners ‘duck’ strangers’ cars, mysteriously leaving the toy on the vehicle’s windshield or side mirrors.
The same tradition goes for vacationers on cruises, who hide rubber ducks for each other around the ship – making it a goal to locate them before returning back home from sea.
The tradition, which has taken off on Facebook in recent years, garnered widespread attention for being a silly and innocently mischievous game.
Calabrese and Walton’s distinctive idea for the small business emerged after they had talked about using their decades of retail experience to open their own shop in the sunny streets of San Fran.
The success of the store is partly due to the unusual fanatic duck-swapping traditions of Jeep owners
The duo behind the business turned their pop-up shop into a full-time venture
The business-savvy duo had formally worked alongside each other at Gap.
Although the pair spoke about the possibility for years, the concept only began to snowball into something more when Calabrese cold-emailed the leasing executive of Pier 39 – asking if the area had any available short-term rental spaces.
And of course, she pitched their wacky idea.
Its silly concept chosen out of impulse meant nothing to the owners before launching their shop – they had no special feelings or passion for the child’s bath toy.
Nevertheless, they began stocking up on ducks before they even signed the lease.
The pair were granted a six-month pop-up shop, but the overwhelming interest made them realize that their store had potential – and staying power.
Within the first 12-months of operation, the pair began achieving profitability – indicating a six-figure revenue.
Now 18 months in, they’re working with their landlord to secure a two-year extension on the colorful space as they have become successful enough to hire and pay several employees to help out.
Kwak brings in new styles every six to eight weeks – regularly phasing out their ducks that don’t receive as much attention, including their ‘princess fairy’ duck, and replacing them with another kind to try.
Most of the shop’s ducks cost anywhere from $10 to $12, but ‘higher-end’ ducks are $20 and larger pop-culture items by CelebriDucks – a California brand – go for $24.
Recently, Kwak has expanded to selling accessories for the adorable yellow bird, including beanies, bucket hates and umbrellas.
But the traditional ducks remain the store’s bestseller by a long shot, including spa ducks, clown ducks and ghost-face ducks – all of which being some of the shoppers favorites.
Within the first 12 months of operation the duo have begun achieving profitability
The duo’s fast-track success has recently led to collaborating with an organization in regards to what the process of franchising the shop would look like.
While there are a handful of other duck-dedicated shops across the United States, Walton still believes that the concept is an ‘underserved market’.
‘Our next step is looking for ways to expand it,’ he said. ‘Part of that is obviously the bottom line, but it’s also just fun.’
‘Both Joanne and I have had very serious retail jobs that were tough, and the thing about this is that it’s just joyous.’
And as one does in modern times, Kwak’s duck inventory is available online. But that takes away the overall in-store experience that drives business up the wall.
Customers are always coming in with groups and family – taking turns picking which duck best represents each person.
‘It’s about how you feel when you walk in,’ Calabrese said. ‘It’s completely silly, but we’re having the most fun ever.’