I had a huge story in the New York Times House & Home Section last Thursday October 25, “Best Sellers and Bombs,” surveying design stores across the country and tracking what was and wasn’t selling. What I found interesting was how many owners I spoke to referenced Moss, as in “I’ll bet Moss could sell this, but I can’t” kind of thing. Unfortunately, Moss was cut from the story. But I thought you’d find it interesting to see their best sellers and bombs - both, oddly enough, from the same category, Finger Puppets.

Below is what would have ran in the Times:

Bomb:
Gay Marriage Finger Puppets, $55
“We commissioned these puppets – two men, two women and a minister - from the same woman who made the terrorism finger puppets for us. We thought that since gay marriage was so newsy, it would be perfect for explaining this new era to your children. We were very wrong, and very shocked. But when you think about it, gay marriage is not a hot button issue in New York. I mean, gay couples have wedding announcements in the New York Times, so I think it’s just boring for our customer.”

Best seller:
Terrorism Finger Puppets, $55
“On the other hand, terrorism is hot hot hot. It’s horrifying and frightening and uncontrollable – and here’s a little piece of cloth making fun of it. So it gives you a way of dealing with it. Granted, a way that’s totally out of left field. We had to re-order these 3 times.” The set was made up of tiny finger puppets resembling Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, Kim Jong Il, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and George Bush.