Saturday, July 19, 1997

Local retailers can't keep bracelets in stock

By BRIAN BETHEL / Abilene Reporter-News

A little bracelet has become one of the biggest tools for faith in years, and local Christian retailers can't keep the popular adornments in stock.

Bible and Christian gift store employees said that locals' hunger for the popular "WWJD?" - a k a "What Would Jesus Do?" - bracelets means they sell out of the narrow cloth bands with rapidly.

"We get calls every day," said Oran L. Rake, owner of the Good News Book Store. "They're really amazing. There's so much demand for them, and we just can't keep up. We get in shipments as quickly as we can, but it hasn't been enough."

Workers at Joshua's Christian Stores said that as soon as a shipment of WWJD? bracelets arrives, eager buyers scoop them up. The bracelets rarely even make it to the store shelves before they're gone.

With such an incredible rush on the bracelets, other products have sprung up to fill the void, said Greg Pace, owner of The Love Shop in the Mall of Abilene.

For example, there are now WWJD? shirts, keychains and such to help fill some of the desires of - primarily - younger Christians who want to make a statement and remember their faith in times of crisis.

If you can't wait for a supply to trickle into your favorite store, there's always the option of making a bracelet yourself.

Friendze Stores on South 11th offers a wide variety of beads, bangles and other materials to craft your own WWJD? bracelet for prices ranging from $3 to $6 each.

Pre-assembled bracelets made by the store's crafters run as high as $9.95, said Manager Shirley Ward.

"The bracelet materials have been our biggest seller for about four to six weeks now," she said. "We have everything you would need to make one, with a big table you can use for" construction.

Adults come in to make the bracelets, along with the usual complement of younger people, she said.

"We actually have probably as many adults as we do children coming in to make them," Ward said. "We have all types who come in. Church groups, Vacation Bible School (participants) and groups like that come in a lot, of course.

"We also see grandparents bringing children in. It's a lot of fun for everyone."

As many as 30 crafters may be there on the weekends making their own, personal bracelets, she said.

Pace said that despite the bracelets' popularity, they're no mere fad.

"I think it's a great way to remind people to walk and live like Jesus," he said. "It really does put in your mind a desire to stop and ask what Jesus would do in any given situation. It's a very good idea."