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What is Skoggy?
Skoggy is an interesting word...
It’s the fuzzy feeling that flips a switch. The kind of friend you never outgrow.
But what truly is that fuzzy feeling?
There’s a kind of plush that goes beyond “cute.” The kind that ignites you.
It’s not just “I like it”—it’s I need it. The same feeling that hits when you see a baby animal so adorable you almost can't stand it.
We’ve all experienced this feeling about something.
When your whole body floods with affection and you just want to squeeze it, protect it, never let it go.
It’s instinctual. It’s tender. It’s fierce.
Like the way a guardian looks at a newborn in their care—not just with love, but with awe, responsibility, and a deep, aching desire to nurture.
Where did the fuzzy feeling come from?
Before Skoggy ever existed, our household was always a soft place to land.
We grew up with over a dozen animals in the house at any given time—most of them rescued from the streets, nursed back to health and rehabilitated for the wild with their instincts intact.
Those unable were made pets—forever members of our family.
Raccoons, opossums, guinea pigs, street dogs—you name it, our family looked after them as an active member of a wildlife rehabilitation group.
It’s a passion to protect and nurture the creatures that accompany us here on Earth.
The forest was home for them at a time—but they found another home in us.
We too found a sense of home in them.
Belonging, affection, the desire to nurture—the spirit of home.
What happens to that fuzzy feeling?
We can’t always hold on to what brings us joy.
Nothing seems to last forever in life no matter how hard we want it to. Oftentimes we have to learn to accept it—though it’s never easy.
Holding onto something once it’s over hurts us more than letting go. It constantly reminds us of what we lost rather than allowing us to celebrate what we had.
When it came time to part ways with the furry friends in our care, we had to accept that they were going on their own journeys without us, but trust that they would be full of adventure.
It’s always sad to see those you cared for leave the nest, or those who cared for us travel a different path, but there are always more adventures for us to explore at every step of life’s path too.
We shouldn’t rob ourselves of them by living in the past, but instead celebrate what we had and what is yet to come.
Learning their lessons. Not living in the feelings they gave us in the past, but letting those feelings live in us now on our own journeys.
Surviving by us, for us.
How do we capture the fuzzy feeling?
In 2020, we came up with an idea: What if we captured that fuzzy feeling in a stuffed animal? Something that was ours—something that was forever.
To serve as a memento of everything that we miss and everything that we look forward to.
To give us comfort that we had and courage to go forward.
What if we shared it with the world?
It was ambitious, but we weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel.
We were only deconstructing good memories and putting them back together into soulful beings in plushie form.
A plushie that makes you light up. A plushie that feels instantly familiar. A plushie that pulls something primal and soft from deep inside you.
So we got to work.
So what's the fuzzy feeling formula?
We studied the kinds of stuffed animals that communities were lighting up about on forums, in memes, and across social feeds.
We found people weren’t just sharing toys—they were bonding with something that felt real.
These plushies weren’t ordinary. They had something special about them.
They were excessive in size… in a lot of ways.
Sometimes it was in sheer stature—almost life-sized—where hugs sink deeper than any of ours could.
Other times it was in their proportions: chubby like how a baby appears full of wonder in the cheeks, but helplessly stubby in the limbs—too new to the world to move so quickly through it.
Most of the time it was in their personalities, faces radiating a quiet emotional depth that didn’t force a smile or a frown, but held something soft and unspoken, like joy or melancholy held just beneath the surface.
But no matter what these plushies were feeling inside, they would always be there for you to provide a fuzzy feeling.
Why do we need the fuzzy feeling?
Our favorite plushies are a lot like our pets, but are even closer to what us humans are supposed to be: co-existing, compassionate, caretaking.
Only these plushies don’t make mistakes. They don’t lash out in anger. They don’t move on.
They’re the companions that each of us have always needed.
They’re what we deserve.
No matter what part of these plushies were excessively sized, whether physical or emotional, they were big enough to strike a chord as soulful and alive as their fans needed.
Many times they were given names by their owners. Bed-time rituals formed around them and travel plans were made with these plushies in mind because being apart would feel like a loss.
These weren’t toys.
They were friends filling a real emotional gap—something warm to hold, something that brought calm and joy just by being there.
We understood why they mattered—how important it was to have a friend always with you through thick and thin.
It’s the relationships our foster animals shared with us—exactly what we wanted to capture.
We knew: there was a formula here with these plushies.
A secret worth unraveling. We wanted to understand it—master it—and wove it into products of our own to share with the world.
So how was the fuzzy feeling recreated?
We designed a bear as our first prototype.
The bear was an animal we had never taken care of. There would be no bias if we created a bear that filled us with the same spirit that our sanctuary of critters did.
It wouldn’t remind us of a long lost foster animal friend by appearance alone—but by essence—it would be true.
So we carefully shaped our bear for softness, positioned the eyes for empathy, and tested dozens of fabrics for the perfect hug.
When we arrived at the end, we felt a fuzzy feeling.
It was real. It reminded us of home, and that essence would be stitched into every product of ours, so we named our bear after home.
We called him “Skog”—the Swedish word for forest. It’s not just where animals live. It’s home. And with that first bear—now lovingly called Brunskog—Skoggy was born.
It’s not a company—it’s a purpose—and so begins our journey.
Our Story
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Product Becomes a Purpose
We launched our prototype on Instagram, unsure whether our vision of “Skoggy” would resonate, so we posted a meme to find out. 59 likes! Not Kardashian-level yet, but enough to turn our prototype into a product. Within 24 hours, we’d sold five.
We asked our manufacturer to scale up. If one post brought this much love, more was coming. And it did. Within three months, we had over 1,000 customers, 10,000 followers, and a community growing bigger than ourselves. Skoggy was no longer an idea, but had a life of its own.
A Very Beary Christmas
Hype grew month over month, and the end of the year 2021 brought strong holiday orders, but it was Christmas Day supercharged everything. Unboxings with friends and family sparked waves of discovery across the world.
The days following Christmas were each bigger than the holiday itself as the product became its own best advertisement. We still believe: if something doesn’t thrive naturally, it shouldn’t be pushed. Our marketing should be just as Skoggy as our products—genuine, joyful, and wanted—brightening days and strengthening communities.
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Expanding the Forest
We announced new sizes and colorways without knowing how they’d land—but each reveal was more celebrated than the last. It became clear we didn’t have a one-hit wonder. We had a formula, and fan excitement outpaced even our own imaginations.
Our first non-bear plush was the froggy friend, Grodaskog. To our amazement, he outsold our original claim-to-fame bear! If we held true to the meaning of our funny little invented word, the Skoggy spirit could live in any creature.
Opening the Den
As fans increased and online chatter grew, we opened our Discord server. It became a place for in our community to thrive: collection photos, fan art, inside jokes, contests, giveaways, and announcements for things to come.
Friends were, and still are, made in each other and in our products every day. The true definition of the Swedish word "Skog"—home—became real. We're always running contests and taking fan suggestions, cherishing every member.
Skogging Around Forevermore
We're always reinvesting in our company—upgrading fabrics to improve softness and durability, refining stuffing density to perfect the hug, expanding our source of warehousing and shipping lines, and upgrading our website. Every improvement to make the Skoggy experience stronger.
We’ve come far from that first sketch, but it still feels like the beginning. The forest is expanding with new members of our community and creatures on the horizon, and the same Skoggy spark is stitched into every one. This isn’t just a story of where we’ve been—it’s what’s next.
The S.K.O.G.G.Y Principles
Everything we do: every design we draw out, every seam we stitch, every post we publish, every friendship we form is guided by six principles.
Each principle is something we hold near and dear to our hearts, business or bust. They are character traits which Skoggy was built by—a moral foundation that existed before the idea for our company ever existed and that will exist forevermore on the journeys we’ll travel together.
Skoggy isn’t just a name, and it certainly isn’t just a product. It’s a feeling—a purpose—a promise, made up by what we call the S.K.O.G.G.Y. Principles.
We hope that all who share the joy of Skoggy the company will too share the principles that make us what we are.
It starts with the letter S.
The Soul Principle
The spark that makes something more than a toy.
From the very beginning, we’ve been driven by soul—not strategy. If it doesn’t move us, it doesn’t go out into the world.
Soul is what gives our plushies that unspoken emotional pull, like a memory you haven’t made yet. It's in the quiet expressions, the thoughtful weight, and the fuzzy feeling that says: this one’s different.
In Practice:
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Every design starts with an emotion, not a trend
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We refine eyes, shapes, and proportions until plushies have a life of their own
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We build for bonding, not just collecting
The Kindness Principle
To animals, people, and the planet—always.
We come from a home where compassion was instinct. From bottle-feeding rescued raccoons to sending replacement packages for shipments if anything goes wrong, we act with care at every step.
This kindness extends to how we choose factories, how we write policies, how we reply to every review with a thank-you.
In Practice:
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Ethical manufacturing and small-batch testing
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Thoughtful, human support (no scripts, ever)
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Brand tone that comforts, not sells
The Oasis Principle
Comfort in every form—physical, emotional, environmental.
Our plushies are made to be a refuge. From the softest fabrics to the most calming colors, we design for emotional safety—the kind you can hold.
Whether you’re gifting one or growing a collection, it should always feel like a return to something gentle—that feels like home.
In Practice:
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Sensory-minded design with rabbit-like fabric and soft, balanced stuffing
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Packaging that when opened feels like meeting a long lost family member
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Fostering a community of likeminded fans and a sanctuary for animals to this day
The Genuine Principle
What you see is who we are.
We don’t do fake hype. If a product isn't ready, we wait. If we make a mistake, we own it.
Genuineness is how we build trust—through transparency, consistency, and care. When you interact with Skoggy, you should always feel like you’re getting the real us.
In Practice:
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Honest marketing and product launches
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Behind-the-scenes transparency on social media, with expansive detail in our Discord server
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A brand voice that speaks with feeling, not filters
The Growth Principle
Not just bigger—better, deeper, more meaningful.
Growth at Skoggy isn’t about chasing trends. It’s about evolving with purpose.
From sourcing better materials to launching new characters based on fan ideas, we grow to make the fuzzy feeling stronger—and to keep making room in the forest for new creatures and new friends.
In Practice:
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Reinvesting in softness, durability, and logistics
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Expanding creature types and colorways thoughtfully
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Building systems to support long-term community care
The You Principle
You’re the reason we exist.
Every product we design is for someone who needs it. Someone who’s giving a gift, needing comfort, building a collection, or just saying “this makes me feel safe.”
We don't just listen to our community—we build it with you.
In Practice:
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Contests, collaborations, and community co-creation
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Discord as a real space for friendship, not just updates
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Aligning every principle of ours with your best interest in mind
Skoggy Isn't a Company. It's You.
By you, for you—from the first hug to the next creature we dream up together. We’re merely striving to make dreams come true.
We want to take the opportunity to set an example of our Gratitude Principle and say from the bottom of our hearts:
Thank you for being a part of Skoggy.