Rickey Poppell needed to come up with a mascot.
He worked in marketing and management at the Myrtle Square Mall from 1989 to 1994 and created a club for local kids. The club was supposed to make the kids feel important and attract them to the mall, and Poppell wanted a mascot to represent the group.
Poppell met with a local advertising business to brainstorm ideas, and an animal with four legs, tail, shell and propensity for besting rabbits in races came to mind…