It\u2019s the craze that\u2019s sweeping Britain and Shrewsbury is going looming mad for it \u2013 it\u2019s Loop and Loom.<\/p>\n
The Loom Bands, simple, multi-coloured elastic bands which can be made into bracelets, are flying out of shops and retailers can\u2019t get stocks fast enough.<\/p>\n
At top toy store The Entertainer in Shrewsbury\u2019s Pride Hill Shopping Centre manager Claire Keay has been amazed at the popularity of the Loop and Loom mania.<\/p>\n
She said: \u201cI\u2019ve worked for The Entertainer for six years and I\u2019ve never seen anything like it. There have been crazes before but nothing like this.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are selling two thousand \u00a31 packs a week and plenty of the \u00a33 packs which include the loom and 100 little rubber bands \u2013 there are different ways of threading them and there are even Youtube videos showing how to do it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou might expect that it would just be girls buying them but it\u2019s boys as well \u2013 there are even camouflage coloured bands.<\/p>\n
\u201cParents are buying them for their children, teenagers love them and some schools have even banned them.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve stocked them since just after Christmas and to begin with they didn\u2019t really move but about six to eight weeks ago it was if they\u2019d caught fire and we can\u2019t stock them fast enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe love seeing kids come in with their own Loom Creations and their excitement as they find the new Loom Bands that are available \u2013 they can be even be scented, colour changing or themed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Entertainer has the biggest range in the UK and we now even have a dedicated loop and loom club on our website.<\/p>\n
\u201cLast 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Entertainer isn\u2019t the only store that is under siege from Loop and Loomers, at the nearby Ryman stationery store they\u2019ve sold out and are desperately awaiting a new order.<\/p>\n
Assistant manager David Jones said: \u201cWe\u2019re just hoping for another delivery soon because they\u2019re like hot cakes, they\u2019ve been flying out and now we\u2019re having to direct shoppers to other stores.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t quibble when they only cost \u00a31 and our last delivery sold out in a week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Up Pride Hill at the Darwin Centre it\u2019s been a similar story at another stockist Claire\u2019s Accessories where assistant manager Rhian Worrall said: \u201cAll the kids absolutely love them now but when we first had them they weren\u2019t really selling.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut now it\u2019s just gone crazy and they\u2019re a big part of what we sell now and not just to kids, parents and relatives are buying them as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have these big \u00a320 kits up on the walls and last weekend we sold four of them just like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kevin Lockwood, Manager of the Darwin, Pride Hill and Riverside Shopping Centres, said: \u201cWhen something takes off there can be no obvious explanation and it\u2019s often something quite simple and inexpensive.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey just need to catch the imagination and the moment and off they go and that seems to be the case with Loop and Loom.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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<\/strong><\/p>\n