I run a small doll and bear shop in California.  My customers are fiercely protective of my store--they are constantly asking if the store is "doing OK" because they are so afraid I will go out of business, leaving them in an area with a severe doll drought.  Because of this, my decision to carry Italian Charm Bracelets in the shop was very controversial.

A typical reaction:  "Why are you carrying jewelry now?," never mind that my store already carries many non-doll things such as classic children's toys, Santas, and Christmas items.  For some reason, the bracelets have been seen as a threat to the "dolliness" of my shop.  But...the charms are actually a wonderful complement to the dolls and bears.

In a second, I'll tell you WHY I'm carrying the charm bracelets, and what they are doing for the hobby of doll collection.  But, first...a digression.  I understand that in many parts of the United States and the world, no one has any idea of what I am talking about when I say "Italian Charm Bracelet."  However, those of you in California definitely know what I'm talking about, since in California, Italian Charm Bracelets are a hot trend.  And I mean HOT.  In fact, just last week I was sitting in a church pew, and right in front of me were exactly 6 women, ALL wearing the bracelets.  I am wearing one as I type this right now, and I've already sold 7 charms this morning. 

For the un-initiated, Italian Charm Bracelets are little inter-linking stainless steel charms, embellished with letters or symbols or stones, with 18k gold and little hand painted enamels. Generally, people choose charms that represent their life--charms to represent people in their families, their hobbies, their jobs, and their nationality.  There are sports charms, religious charms, and doll and bear charms, plus birth stones and zodiac symbols. The basic "starter" bracelet (blank links with no icons) costs $6, and the charms from $14.99 and up.  

OK, now back to WHY I carry the charm bracelets.  Many adults see my shop advertisements, and they think "dolls and bears...those are for kids," and they never stop by to see the shop.  Certain moms might think "I'm not a collector--those dolls aren't for me or my kids..." and THEY never come by to see the shop.  Etc.   However, they see my ad featuring Italian Charm Bracelets, and for THAT, they'll stop by the shop--after all, jewelry is a nice, sensible, adult thing.  

So, what usually happens is that the customer will stand at the front counter and buy their charms, and then they look up, and for the first time, they see the rest of the store.  And....its interesting, and lovely!  They've never seen dolls like that--artist dolls, collector dolls, baby dolls for children that look, well alive (they don't have those dead toys-are-us eyes).  Antique dolls.  Bears done in mohair, and Boyds and Ty, too.  So, the new customer looks around, and more often than not, they find something ELSE to take home--a holiday bear for a display, a doll for a special child.  AND....I've even turned a few of those "dolls are not for me!" customers into doll collectors--after all, they already had some form of the collector "gene" because the charm bracelets themselves are little collections of charms!  

Overall, my impression is that most people today are not exposed to collector dolls.  Their total impression of dolls is what they see in Toys R Us and the toy aisle at Wal Mart.  Seeing collector dolls are a true revelation, as are collector bears.  So, for those customers, I need to find something besides "dolls" to get them into the store--to turn them into doll collectors!  And, the Italian Charm Bracelets fit the bill.

I know that the "fad" of Italian Charm Bracelets won't last forever--eventually, all those bracelets will be filled!  But, for now, I will use the charms simply to generate extra, brand new traffic for my store.  In other words, I'm trolling for new collectors!  I don't thing my local die-hard doll collecting customers can really mind that.      

Links To Related Page on About.com:  Italian Charm Bracelets

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