On today’s podcast, we talk to Alyssa Fletchinger Higgins, the vice president at Plush Appeal – The Mardi Gras Spot, a New Orleans company that creates thousands of custom products for Mardi Gras organizations, businesses and individuals in New Orleans and beyond. Plush Appeal began in 1989 as a supplier of toys for those claw machines you see at carnivals and arcades and it has grown into a booming business that occupies four acres near Broad Street in Mid-City. Normally, Higgins spends several weeks or more each spring traveling to overseas factories but this year has been different, of course. She talks to us about how Carnival organizations are preparing for next year’s event despite the uncertain times and the other ways the pandemic has affected the family business.
