Tucked away among a group of warehouses in southwest Raleigh is Emily Foster with more than 10,000 plushies that she designed for her business, Alpacasews. A fraction of those plushies will be at GalaxyCon Raleigh this weekend.
Foster originally started her business during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, while working on her meteorology degree from North Carolina State University.
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“Since I wasn’t able to go outside, I would sew at home. I’ve been sewing since I was 18, doing commissions on the side throughout my degree,” Foster said. “I did my first launch on February 13, 2021, and by May, I was selling out every launch and able to do it full-time.”
Foster said some of her plushies are inspired by fantasy and the occult, including one of her first lines, which were inspired by the Mothman Statue in West Virginia.
Foster said she realized this would be a successful business model when she made more money in six months selling plushies than during her time at the State Climate Office of North Carolina.
“I was realizing that I was not built for the technical side of meteorology, and I was wanting to work with people more,” she said.
It grew to the point that one of her Kickstarter campaigns, which were plushies of cows sitting in pots, received more than $100,000 in donations. Soon after, she realized that she needed a larger space.
In three years, Foster has grown from hand sowing the plushies in her apartment room to operating out of a 2,000-square-foot warehouse.
The journey from meteorologist to business owner was not easy.
“There was a time where I was working myself sick,” Foster said. “I was working 24/7 sewing 160 plushies per month. That’s when I realized I had to ask for help. That’s the hardest thing for small business owners, is realizing that you can’t do it on your own.”
That’s when Foster added a business manager to help her with Alpacasews. She’s also enrolled in N.C. State’s Andrews Launch Accelerator program. The 14-week-long summer program helps startup founders work on their concepts and build their companies.
While she has developed a successful business model, she said it doesn’t come without complications.
Foster told WRAL News that one of her designs was copied by the seller Temu. While flattered, albeit jokingly, she said there is usually very little she can do, despite having copyright protection on all of her products.
WRAL 5 On Your Side found this is a frequent complaint against Temu. Our team also learned some of Temu’s business practices make counterfeits and other dangerous products difficult for U.S. officials to catch before they reach your home.
“A lot of times, sometimes people can say ‘we’re going to make this as a one-piece plush instead of a two-piece [plush], and that’s how things slip through the cracks,” Foster said.
Foster said her team consists of just her and a business manager. While she initially started making the plushies herself, the demand forced her to have the plushies made overseas and sent to her warehouse.
Currently, she has over 10,000 plushies at the warehouse and usually brings roughly 500 to conventions, which she says sell out quickly.
While she’s been to the Richmond and Columbus editions of GalaxyCon, this will be her first time at GalaxyCon Raleigh as a vendor. Foster said she’s been trying to get on the vendor list since starting AlpacaSews in 2021.
The convention's yearly presence brings an estimated economic impact of nearly $9 million, which benefits local businesses and the community, event organizers say.
“GalaxyCon significantly boosts tourism and local activity, and our local partners look forward to welcoming attendees every July. This fantastic convention draws locals and visitors alike to downtown Raleigh to nerd out about their favorite shows, movies, entertainment stars, and creators," President and CEO of Visit Raleigh Dennis Edwards said.
Foster said she enjoys the convention circuit because it allows people to see her products and hold them in person.
“It’s a great way to connect with buyers,” she said. “I’ve had industry PR and conventions reach out to me after seeing my creations and asking me to bring my setup to their shows.”
As for where she sees herself in the next three or five years, Foster sees her business being popular in homes and something people can get everywhere, including to New York City Comic Con later this year, where she will sell her merchandise at one of the biggest conventions in the country.
“I want to see them in stores,” she said. “I want my cows and my dragons to be something people recognize when they’re out in the streets.”
Foster will be at the convention all four days. You can see the map where she and other vendors and artists will be by clicking here.