Why stores can't keep these porch geese in stock

Petunia the porch goose is posing pretty on the look tread of Alla Turgeon’s place in Hammonds Plains, N.S.

sprucely dressed in a sun hat and a gardening outfit, the concrete figure differs from her feathered counterparts in many ways, her owner points out. 

“She doesn't leave for the Canadian winter. She stays here year-round,” jokes Turgeon, who brought Petunia home more than a year ago.

Petunia and her relatives are now perching on a slew of Nova Scotian homes since a spike in popularity that began online helped the once-popular lawn decor item from the 1980s make a renewed splash. 

What's a porch goose? It's the latest trend taking over doorsteps

“She's kinda had a resurrection,” said Veronica Ribble, the district manager at Wheaton's in Lower Sackville, where the geese are marketed under the name Giddy.

“People have kind of come back to Giddy.”

And what’s good for the goose is good for the local retail gander. 

The life-size figures, made from a range of materials including concrete, plastic and metal, have been selling out at a variety of stores that have just started stocking them. 

“They've only been here since yesterday and they're already gone,” said Heather Going of Taylor Timber Mart in Musquodoboit Harbour. 

“We have another 40 on order, a new flock coming in in 2½ weeks. I may have to order another one after that.”

Going said people have been calling or sending text messages seeking to get their hands on a goose, prompting the store to create a waiting list. 

Ribble said Wheaton's has also started a waitlist.  

“I think we plowed through about 300 within a couple of days. And then we actually had two separate large orders over 500. We're well over about 1,500.” 

But it’s not just the Petunias and the Giddys that are selling like hotcakes. Apparel for the porch geese is also flying off the shelves. 

“People are enjoying them. It's been a long, draggy winter. They're buying sundresses for them. I shouldn't laugh, but they are,” said Going. 

At Wheaton's, a display at the front of the store shows off their goose goods, including a cowboy outfit that one customer from Middle Sackville purchased for her porch goose she named Bill. 

“I guess as millennials, we just like things that bring us back to a simpler time. The world was a little less scary when their yards were filled with the trinkets and concrete animals,” said Mallori Onderwater.

Turgeon, who continues to expand Petunia’s already extensive wardrobe, shares similar sentiments. 

“Something fun never hurt, never hurt your neighbourhood to have a little whimsy, a little character, a little joie de vivre,” she said. 

That whimsy has spread to Taylor Timber Mart, where Going's co-workers have given her a new nickname. 

“All I've been dealing with for five days now is geese. And for the next five days, it'll be geese. So yes, I'm Mother Goose.” 

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