Hot Marco Craze: Novelty Bracelets Born with History Channel and a Drop of Vodka
Marco Island, FL – You may remember the Hula Hoop craze of the 1950s. Or Pet Rocks in the ’70s. Over the last few months, the Marco Island Center for the Arts’ gift shop has experienced a similar marketing phenomenon involving a bracelet designed by Tampa jewelry makers Karen and Ashley Wright.
Sure, the bracelet is attractive and selling at a great price point. But it was the intensity of the public’s reaction to the bracelets that was totally unexpected and left the center’s staff scratching their heads in wonder.
It started with one or two women buying the bracelets. Word spread quickly, as often happens on Marco; friends told friends, who in turn told other friends. There were days when nothing was sold in the gift shop but bracelets — not just one per customer but quite often as many as 10 or more to the same person.