How London's rubber duck stores stay above water

CNBC

5 days ago

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck — then it could be one of the rubber specimens lining the shelves of Duck World, a string of colorful stores that are staying afloat as hundreds of other London retailers close their doors.
Duck World's 700-strong rubber flock comprises every size, dress and profession, with a store employee telling CNBC that popular models include the superhero-inspired "Spidy Duck" and the tourist favorite "Telephone Booth" duck. Some are fluffy, ceramic or change color, though not all are designed to get wet.
The company has four brick-and-mortar stores in London — all in prime real estate locations — and one in Miami. But with price tags ranging from £5 to triple digits, and data still singing the decline of the U.K.'s retail sector, there are questions over how Duck World is getting by.
It turns out some of the hurdles facing broader British retail are affecting Duck World, too.
"The past couple of months have been quite challenging," Irina Fedotova, fintech-worker-turned-Duck-World-co-founder, told CNBC in a July 14 interview. Alongside her business partner Filip Perkon, she opened the first of Duck World's shops — dubbed "nests" — in January 2023 with the mission to "spread happiness."
But sticky U.K. inflation, national wage increases and business rate relief cuts have been piling on the pressure, with Fedotova admitting that Duck World has had to raise prices across its product lines in recent months.
Still, she has faith in Duck World — "The rubber duck has always been such an iconic thing" — and its ongoing appeal to tourists, gift seekers and collectors.
"The average buyer is, surprisingly, a millennial," Fedotova said.
On a brief stakeout at two Duck World establishments, CNBC observed shoppers ranging from rambunctious toddlers to middle-aged tourists. One customer told CNBC that her latest purchase was a duck for her kids to use as target practice with their water guns.
"I think some of these shops at least have a fairly loyal customer base," retail analyst and JDM Retail CEO Jonathan De Mello told CNBC by phone, noting a certain immunity that collectibles have in the face of macroeconomic downturns. "Duck World is one of those sorts of businesses."
De Mello suggested Duck World could achieve an "extremely high" return on its rubber duck sales, as "gross margin will be 70% minimum — maybe 80-85%, thereabout," under the assumption of low raw material and production costs.
Most of Duck World's products are designed in the U.K. — and many are manufactured in China, Fedotova said. The business was, therefore, affected by the retaliatory tit-for-tat between Washington and Beijing that brought tariffs into the triple-digit percentages in April.
"We are looking for alternatives [to importing from China]," Fedotova said, but added that producing the products in the U.S. just doesn't add up.
Capacity and infrastructure have long cemented China's monopoly on toy production, although increasing geopolitical risks and the dangers of an overreliance on one country exposed during the Covid-19 pandemic have propelled some toymakers to diversify.
Mainland China still accounted for 71.4% of global exports of toys in the six months to May 31 this year — edging down from the 76.9% of first-half 2019, according to data shared by S&P Global Market Intelligence with CNBC. By contrast, the U.S. produced just 1.1% of worldwide toy exports in the six months to the end of May 2025.
Producing rubber ducks in the U.S. isn't impossible. CelebriDucks, a manufacturer of celebrity licensed rubber ducks, boasts that its flock is "made 100% in America," with starts in Ohio and final production in Michigan.
Beyond supply chains, retail analyst De Mello warns that one risk factor for businesses peddling small everyday luxuries is the rise and fall in favor of so-called "treatonomics" — a major consumer trend of 2024, according to Barclays. It found that 46% of Brits "say they prioritise spending on small, affordable, mood-boosting luxuries such as pastries and cosmetics, even while tightening budgets."
"You could lump these little rubber ducks into that sort of treatonomics," De Mello said.
He noted, however, that some collectibles are "fads," and "because it is a customer-base that is finite … there is a limit to ... that level that space that you've got to devote to these things."
Yet even outside of Duck World, rubber ducks continue to appeal and take pride of place in many of London's numerous souvenir stores. In Vienna, rubber ducks impersonating Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and targeted at tourists fetched a handsome 14-euro price ($16.40) tag.
Toys overall have been riding a high: SumUp found that in 2024, games and toy stores logged the second-highest increase in U.K. store openings since 2020. Internationally, meanwhile, Popmart's Labubu dolls have enjoyed meteoric fame after going viral on social media.
The "trendification" of collectibles can come about from initial feelings of fun or nostalgia triggered by an item, "then someone else spots it and it sort of snowballs from there," Cathrine Jansson-Boyd, professor of consumer psychology at Anglia Ruskin University, told CNBC by email.
"All of a sudden, the little items are status symbols. Not having one may therefore make people feel inferior, a feeling people don't like and such feelings can drive people to buy one," she said. "With many collectors' items, they are driven by social values, so once they are trending on TikTok, it is almost inevitable that the TikTok users will want one, whatever that may be."
Jansson-Boyd stressed that buyers will typically be "dictated by their purse strings" and still cut back on small luxury purchases in the face of economic hardships — but the individual value attached to a collectible can play its part.
"Such value incorporates aspects such as feelings of happiness, belonginess to a group and social interaction with other collectors. In some cases, the value can also be in terms of how what they collect represents who they are or who they want to be," she said.
But being trendy comes with its own risks.
"What happens when you become less fashionable? … can you still afford the rent?" De Mello questioned.
Duck World's place in London's rental and retail world has been met with some questions, including over the legitimacy of the business.
"[I was surprised by] the number of times, even when we hear it in passing, that people would post on Twitter, 'Are they money laundering?'" Fedotova said, categorically denying the allegations. "It's funny that people are so quick to accuse."
Skepticism of small businesses popping up on Britain's high street has mounted over the years after some U.S.-style "candy shops" were linked to illicit activities.
Local authorities have been cracking down on such establishments, particularly on and around London's high-traffic Oxford Street — a less than 20-minute walk away from Duck World's flagship store in Charing Cross.
"Sweet success for @Citywestminster: the number of U.S. candy stores on Oxford Street has dropped to the lowest ever figure of 16 from a pandemic high of 40. Seizures of unsafe goods plus relentless pursuit of unpaid business rates is making life tough for unscrupulous traders," Westminster City Councilor Adam Hug said July 11.
Duck World, though, is a legitimate business. It posted a small profit in the year to the end of March, 2024, and Britain's Network Rail — landlord of the chain's Liverpool Street and London Bridge station stores — told CNBC by email that "the Duck World units have been a popular and colourful addition to our pop-up line up."
Despite skepticism over Duck World's origins, a tough retail environment and a rise in shoplifting, Fedotova struck an optimistic tone: "Crime's high, taxes are high, the wages are high, but ducks persist."