The sensation that has swept Europe has now arrived in St. Pete: the rubber duck. Daniel Plonsky’s Lucky Duck Shop opens its doors on Thursday, August 22nd at 2626 Central Ave. and offers whimsical, themed rubber ducks in approximately 170-200 different styles and categories. The grand opening follows in November.
During my interview with Plonsky, a misunderstanding occurred. I confused his phrase “Carry Ducks” with “Carrie Ducks,” as in the horror/mystery cult classic based on Stephen King’s novel. When he explained that I had misunderstood him, he added, “But yes, I wear ‘Carrie Ducks.’ I have about 15 of them.”
The store offers many horror-themed ducks that Plonsky describes as “creepy but cute,” including characters like the nun, Hannibal Lecter and Pennywise the clown from “IT.” And that’s just one category. To reiterate, Plonsky offers about 170 to 200 duck species and categories, with an estimated total of about 5,000 ducks. The species and categories include horror, movie star, animal, workplace and love ducks, including an extreme version called “naughty ducks.”
What is the actual duck?
The fascinating irony is that Plonsky admits, “I was never a big fan of ducks. But every time I was in Europe, I would see a shop in every town that sold rubber ducks. And they were always full… that was so strange to me.” Yet Daniel collected ducks from Paris, Germany and Florence. “I have a gondola duck from Florence,” he says.
Before opening The Lucky Duck Shop, Plonsky owned a CBD shop in Sarasota called Trusted Wellness that sold a few rubber ducks, but nothing on the scale of The Lucky Duck Shop. Every duck in the new shop is imported from manufacturers in Europe, primarily the UK and Germany. “There’s nothing like this in the U.S.,” he says.
Rubber ducks have made a comeback as Jeep ornaments. Jeep owners frequently decorate their dashboards with these little plastic quackers. What’s interesting, though, is that the more I research why rubber ducks are taking Europe by storm—like cute, aristocratic exiles reclaiming their former dominions—and the more I try to understand why Jeep owners decorate their dashboards (I suspect it might be because some Jeeps have open tops, making them basically mobile bathtubs, but that’s just a guess), the more questions I have and the more intrigued I become with Plonsky’s duck business.
Check out The Lucky Duck Shop website to get an idea of their stock, the rubber flake.
