Little furry creatures: a new niche in travel retail

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Is Kiwi possum fur the next great emerging fashion category? No less an authority than Sydney Airport General Manager Retail & Commercial Development Bob McFadyen thinks so. So great is demand that his airport retail tenants are struggling to keep their shelves filled with garments and hats made from the signature grey-brown possum fur.

“It’s been one of the most interesting things we’ve seen on the shop floor in recent times,” says McFadyen. “It’s imported from New Zealand, it looks just like wool and it’s been a sensation.”

Wool of course has long been a core category at Sydney Airport, through the excellent destination ranges of retailers such as Merino To Go. Now the lowly possum – said to be among the most foul-smelling of marsupials in its natural habitat (and not, we think, only in New Zealand) – is creating a niche for itself.

Could its sister species, the squirrel, be soon making an entry into duty free in the near future? Watch this space.