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Stretch of popularity shows no sign of snapping
By SEAN BARRON
BOARDMAN
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Above left, Daria Wansley, 13, of Columbus, shows off her Silly Bandz at CVS, 6121 South Ave. in Boardman. Silly Bandz are made of silicone and die-molded into a variety of shapes. The rubber bands return to their original shape when you take them off . She and her cousin were shopping with Alyssa’s mother and Daria’s aunt, Tammye Hardin of Youngstown.
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The rubber bands return to their original shape when you take them off. Alyssa Caney, 4, of Youngstown, peruses the selection bin at the store.
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CVS employee Valarie Dodge, shows the different Silly Bandz shapes that are made of silicone and die molded. The rubber bands return to their original shape when you take them off.
Daria Wansley enjoys being part of an arms race, but hers has a lot more to do with rubber bands than a foreign country.
Or, to be more precise, Silly Bandz.
“I started collecting them a few weeks ago,” the 13-year-old Columbus girl said. “I saw them on friends at school and thought they were cool.”
Daria, her aunt, Tammye Hardin of Youngstown, and 4-year-old cousin, Alyssa Caney, recently shopped at the CVS Pharmacy, 6121 South Ave., where Daria headed for a barrel containing the popular items. She has more than 100 assorted Silly Bandz, she said, and was wearing about 10 on each wrist as she entered the store.
Daria said she enjoys trading and collecting Silly Bandz, also known as animal bracelets.
When it comes to amassing the brightly colored bands, Daria certainly isn’t unique. It’s not a stretch to say that for about the past 18 months, the items have been the latest kid and teen craze.
Silly Bandz are die-molded bracelets similar to rubber bands that are made from nontoxic silicone and come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Examples include sea, wild and zoo animals; musical instruments; beach items such as umbrellas; dinosaurs; birds; sports items such as a baseball glove; cowboy apparel; and the letters of the alphabet.
They look like regular rubber bands on someone’s wrist or arm but return to their original shape and size when removed.
The bands are available in 12- and 24-packs and typically sell for between $3 and $5 a pack. They also feature luminous colors, and some are scented.
Demand for the popular items has slowed a bit at CVS, but as recently as a few months ago, the store was bombarded with calls from customers wanting the bracelets, recalled Valarie Dodge, manager.
“Every other person who walked in asked about the Silly Bandz,” she said. “There’s not a kid that comes in this store who doesn’t stop at that barrel” that contains the colorful packs.
Inquiries began around the holidays at CVS before the bracelets arrived in February or March, Dodge explained. Most of those buying them are between 4 and 18, though some adults make purchases, likely for young relatives, she said.
The store recently started selling Silly Bandz shaped like Twitch, Chunk and several other characters from the highly successful movie “Toy Story 3.”
If you’re on the hunt to add color to your wrist and stockpile, you don’t have to look far. Locally, many grocery, drug, general and other stores, including Pat Catan’s Craft Centers, are among those carrying them.
Pat Catan’s, on South Avenue, receives boxes of Silly Bandz sporadically, but it usually isn’t long between shipment and sellout, noted Beth Scheitrumpf, assistant manager.
The demand continues to be high at her store, and youngsters still come in daily and ask for them, she said.
“My friends’ children have millions of them,” Scheitrumpf said with laughter. “Someone had a good idea with that one.”
That someone is Toledo businessman Robert Croak, president of Toledo-based BCP Imports LLC, which designs, markets and distributes the bracelets.
Croak came up with the idea after he saw a similar product being designed for Japanese offices, according to the website www.sillybandzonsale.net.
A little more than a year ago, BCP was taking orders for a few hundred boxes a week. That figure has increased to an estimated 1,500 boxes weekly, the website says.