The Fussy Duck in Salem, Or is a locally owned, small business that brings together several other small businesses and gives them a place to display and sell their creations and products. Whether you’re looking for handmade items, like penguin plushies, cool wooden signs, snazzy holiday fragrances, or you want a vintage toy that reminds you of when you were child, the Fussy Duck has a treasure waiting for you to find it.

Penguinate.com is one of the small businesses you can find at the Fussy Duck. Our penguins are waiting for you to adopt them for the Christmas Season, read more about them, our books and what the Fussy Duck has done for us!

What does the Fussy Duck mean to us?

We have recently moved back to the Salem area from overseas. We wanted to showcase our penguins and books at comic conventions over the summer and at holiday markets during the Christmas season. With everything being canceled or moved outdoors, the Fussy Duck gave us a better option for getting our penguins out to the public. We’re glad that you can find our books and adopt our penguins through the Fussy Duck in Salem, Or.

What are we offering?

We have handmade stuffed penguins filled with holiday cheer. Our Sally-inspired penguin is one of my favorites. Her dress is hand-sewn and hand-embroidered. Our penguins come in three styles – the original white penguin with yellow beak and orange feet, the black and white penguin, and the more realistic blue-penguin-inspired penguins. They are soft, cuddly, and waiting for you to adopt them. The eyes are hand-embroidered, too. Check out their passports for names and what they like! A portion of the adoption fees from the penguins goes to support the Royal Albatross Centre in New Zealand for their work with Blue Penguins and other birds.

Our Flat Friend Penguins are good for ornaments, to add to gifts as part of a tag, bookmarks and more. They are handmade from felt, and a portion of their adoption fees goes to the Penguin Place in New Zealand for their work with rehabilitating penguins and providing habitat for yellow penguins.

Our roly-poly penguins are great for stress relief. These round balls of knitted yarn and stuffing love when you squeeze them. You can also hang them on the tree!

Our Books

Our books are all from local author Shad Engkilterra. If you want to be more creative, check out Disneyland Is Creativity, the Haunted Mansion Is Creativity, and Penguinate! Short Stories and Essays. If you like Disney, check out the first two books above and Penguinate! The Disney Company.

The Pirate Union is a comedy about pirates and bureaucracy with an early 1990’s sensibility. Alex Travelline and his crew sail the seven seas fending off other pirates, zombies, curses, and the worst of them all, bureaucracy.

The Adventures on the Amur series features Steve, an American intern, and Irina, a Russian Museum Acquisitions Curator, in Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew inspired stories. In book 1, The Treasure of Nikolai Nikolaevich, Steve and Irina face the Russian mafia as they look for the hidden treasure of the man who negotiated with the Chinese for use of the Amur River. Finding it could change Russian history forever. In book 2, Steve and Irina go to a Russian village to help their friend. Unfortunately, they get caught in The Curse of the Golden Kopeck.

Polly Penguin Wants to Fly is the story of a penguin chick who longs to fly, but penguins can’t fly, can they? Written for parents and grandparents to read to their children, this book is great for younger readers, too. One dollar from every book sold goes to Tiritiri Matangi Island for their work with Blue Penguins and their work preserving native New Zealand wildlife. There Are No Penguins in Alaska is a coloring book great for all ages.

My Life in the Projects is the mostly true story of growing up in HUD housing in the 1980s. These stories are taken from real life and represent one family’s life in government funded housing. You may not be able to win with government cheese, but that doesn’t mean it’s all bad.

Tales at an Alaskan Cabin contains 16 short stories told by four men at an Alaskan Cabin. It was inspired by the Decameron, written about the plague of 1342. It debuted for the first time in stores at the Fussy Duck in Salem, Or.

How do you plan to make Christmas shopping special this year?

Guests who go to the Fussy Duck throughout the Christmas season can find a code that is good for a free download of the Penguin Express at our space. Our penguins take a trip on this holiday train of five cars for you to color. We also offer a penguin angel tree topper for download with the code “ThankYou”. Code expires Nov. 30, 2020.

Why is it important to support small businesses?

Small businesses are the lifeblood and flavor of every community. Without them, lifeless box stores would inundate our communities offering little more than low-paying jobs to our community while taking the wealth out of it and delivering that wealth to corporate headquarters. A thriving small business sector insulates our community better against disasters and economic issues at the national level. Plus, small businesses are more fun. They believe in their product and are willing to put the work in to make your shopping experience more enjoyable.

What is your favorite holiday tradition?

I like reading A Christmas Carol every year. It reminds of how we should be all year long. My wife likes giving gifts and seeing the joy in people’s eyes when they get something they love.

Adopt one of our penguins at the Fussy Duck in Salem, Or. The shop is located at 3170 Commercial St SE and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 6pm. Get your holiday shopping done and support several small businesses at the same time. Don’t forget to pick up a book and take note of the download code while you’re there!

Check out this article on Brass Button, another small business at the Fussy Duck.