Small, round, and soft: squishies have cutely invaded many of America’s storefronts to the delight of young children and teenagers alike.

Squishies, a recent term to describe the craze surrounding small, stress ball like fidget toys, have been the main source of business for shops on Mount Vernon’s First Street.

“One mom was in with her daughter who, a lot of times, will buy six, seven, or eight at a time, and she said, ‘Okay, you’re not going to need any more squishy things for the rest of your life,” laughs Anne Silva, the owner of Silver Spider.

Silva’s collection of squishies for sale range across brands, shapes, and sizes. Some squishies, like the ones she buys from a Japanese manufacturer, are shaped like strawberries and made out of a memory foam like material. Others are made from a rubbery plastic, molded into the shape of small cubes, or even frozen popsicles. None of these styles or variants however, compare to the original and coveted brand of squishy: NeeDoh.

“Whatever is available. If there’s actual NeeDoh brand, that’s preferred,” said Ann Streeper from Mechanicsville while she was shopping at Hill of a Deal Discount Store. Streeper goes on to add that different squishies come in different textures. Some sticky, some crunchy. “Yeah, there’s some that feel like they have Rice Krispies in them.”

Silva at Silver Spider has been a customer of Schylling, the toy company behind NeeDoh, for over 20 years, and began ordering shipments of NeeDoh when it first became available on their catalogue over six years ago.

“It’s just something about the TikTok craze that made them go over the top in terms of popularity,” said Silva.

The most recent order she placed for a shipment of new NeeDoh squishies was back on February 27, and the squishies still have yet to arrive.

Now the question still remains. Why are so many people lining up outside of stores for what seem to be, just ordinary rubber stress balls you can buy with simple pocket change, even if they are the NeeDoh brand?

“At school, everyone has them, and everyone uses them for things like stress,” said Teagan Butlers, a 10-year-old from Martelle, while shopping at Silver Spider, who also adds that her friends see squishies trending on websites like YouTube.

Social media platforms like YouTube and TikTok have certainly helped the craze for squishies grow across the country. Just across the street from Silver Spider, owners Tara and Chris Comley of Hill of a Deal have been selling thousands of squishies at their store, thanks in part to the buzz they receive on social media.

“Someone said that we were on TikTok as a famous squishy store, and we’ve heard it multiple times,” said Tara Comley, who also adds jokingly, “I can’t find us on TikTok.”

The Comleys sell liquidation, or surplus merchandise that big box stores like Target, Walmart, and even online retailers like Amazon, do not have the space for, or need to sell anymore.

“We started actually getting squishies in our liquidation, probably mid-April, and I noticed the trend going on, because I have four girls myself.” That trend has gone on to make up a large portion of Hill of a Deal’s sales in the last two months.

Just in the past three to four weeks, Tara estimates that they’ve sold about 2,000 mini-cube squishies and 1,000 butter shaped squishies.

“The fun thing is, in other countries, squishies aren’t as popular as they are in the United States, so they’re liquidating squishies because they either never got the fad, or it’s done.”

The verdict on squishies in the United States? Whether just another fad, or gimmick to grab the eyes of children and wallets of parents, their financial impact on businesses within Mount Vernon’s downtown cannot be overlooked.

Tara mentions that parents will spend upwards of $200 at a time, just to buy squishies for their entire child’s sporting team.

Her husband Chris Comley chiming in, “It’s been kind of surreal to us because you step back and realize, hey, we’re catching this trend now that it’s still big.”

Aside from these two uptown businesses, Back Porch Pickers and Artisans has also had some of the squishies at their storefronts as well, especially around Easter when the dumpling squishies were a huge, huge craze.