It’s the craze that’s sweeping Britain and Shrewsbury is going looming mad for it – it’s Loop and Loom.
The Loom Bands, simple, multi-coloured elastic bands which can be made into bracelets, are flying out of shops and retailers can’t get stocks fast enough.
At top toy store The Entertainer in Shrewsbury’s Pride Hill Shopping Centre manager Claire Keay has been amazed at the popularity of the Loop and Loom mania.
She said: “I’ve worked for The Entertainer for six years and I’ve never seen anything like it. There have been crazes before but nothing like this.
“We are selling two thousand £1 packs a week and plenty of the £3 packs which include the loom and 100 little rubber bands – there are different ways of threading them and there are even Youtube videos showing how to do it.
“It’s making up 30 per cent of our sales and not just here in Shrewsbury. Nationally they are at the same sort of level as well.
“You might expect that it would just be girls buying them but it’s boys as well – there are even camouflage coloured bands.
“Parents are buying them for their children, teenagers love them and some schools have even banned them.
“We’ve stocked them since just after Christmas and to begin with they didn’t really move but about six to eight weeks ago it was if they’d caught fire and we can’t stock them fast enough.
“We love seeing kids come in with their own Loom Creations and their excitement as they find the new Loom Bands that are available – they can be even be scented, colour changing or themed.
“The Entertainer has the biggest range in the UK and we now even have a dedicated loop and loom club on our website.
“Last Saturday was our busiest day since Christmas Eve and we only served 20 fewer customers than we did that day and it was all down to these little elastic bands.”
The Entertainer isn’t the only store that is under siege from Loop and Loomers, at the nearby Ryman stationery store they’ve sold out and are desperately awaiting a new order.
Assistant manager David Jones said: “We’re just hoping for another delivery soon because they’re like hot cakes, they’ve been flying out and now we’re having to direct shoppers to other stores.
“You can’t quibble when they only cost £1 and our last delivery sold out in a week.”
Up Pride Hill at the Darwin Centre it’s been a similar story at another stockist Claire’s Accessories where assistant manager Rhian Worrall said: “All the kids absolutely love them now but when we first had them they weren’t really selling.
“But now it’s just gone crazy and they’re a big part of what we sell now and not just to kids, parents and relatives are buying them as well.
“We have these big £20 kits up on the walls and last weekend we sold four of them just like that.”
Kevin Lockwood, Manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: “When something takes off there can be no obvious explanation and it’s often something quite simple and inexpensive.
“They just need to catch the imagination and the moment and off they go and that seems to be the case with Loop and Loom.
“It’s amazing that in these days of so many sophisticated electronic and web-based toys and games something as simple as coloured elastic bands should explode like this.”
To see how to use Loop and Loom go to youtube.com/watch?v=FgDI5Ms8Yvk and for more on the Shrewsbury Shopping Centres go to shrewsbury-shopping.co.uk
