MCLEAN, VA - In the package, they??re nothing more than tiny silicone bracelets in fun shapes like animals and dinosaurs. But to kids, they??re the hottest trend of 2010.
Silly Bandz, as these bracelets are appropriately called, retail in packs of 12 or 24 for $2.99 and $4.99, respectively. They take up little shelf space and offer as much as a 65 percent profit margin, notes the current issue of NACS Magazine??s "Ideas 2 Go" article, "Are You Smarter Than a 3rd Grader?"
In fact, the success of Silly Bandz has created "a gaggle of copycat rivals," notes USA Today, which in some respects is a huge compliment to Robert Croak, the creator of Silly Bandz and CEO of BCP Imports. Annual sales of the Silly Bandz brand alone are about $100 million, Croak told the newspaper, versus $10,000 just two years ago.
"All of this came from one guy, not some major corporation with huge teams of designers," Croak commented, adding that he has a team of three designers. "This is the American Dream," he told the newspaper, adding that he??s been offered $10 million for the brand. (It??s not for sale, he says.)
7-Eleven estimates that its stores have sold 1.2 million packs of Silly Bandz in fewer than five months. "I'm not sure I've seen anything of this magnitude," Kris Nelson, senior director of non-foods, told the newspaper.
Read more about this hot new craze in "Are You Smarter Than a 3rd Grader?"