THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, January 10, 1997 TAG: 9701100054
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: MICHELLE MIZAL, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 84 lines
ONE-YEAR-OLD Caitland Windor is being initiated early.
She sits in her restaurant high chair giggling as she plays with her first Kerokerokeroppi stuffed animal.
Welcome, Caitland, to the Sanrio Society of Hello Kitty and friends.
``It's something we picked up at the mall yesterday,'' said her father, Byron, as he wiggled the plush frog named Kerokerokeroppi in front of his daughter, making her giggle. ``It was just so cute.''
Caitland is among the youngest fans of Sanrio characters. According to the company, Sanrio appeals to people ages 3 to 23, but mostly to 12- and 13-year-old girls. And it seems that local teens are joining the character craze.
Friendly faced Kerokerokeroppi, with it's humongous bug eyes and ear-to-ear grin, is one of 12 Sanrio characters. All are friends of Hello Kitty, the most popular Sanrio character of all.
This year, the San Francisco division of Sanrio Inc. averaged more than 80 million sales of Sanrio characters and paraphernalia - everything from lunch boxes to tissues. More than a billion Sanrio articles are sold by the Sanrio division in Osaka, Japan.
And even though America doesn't have a Sanrio theme park like Japan does, there are more than 120 Sanrio boutiques across the country, including outlets in Hawaii and Alaska.
Sanrio of Japan first exported Hello Kitty and her friends to America in 1976. But until a few years ago, Sanrio products could only be found in this country at quaint little card and gift stores and small Asian grocery stores. Now, Sanrio speciality stores are popping up everywhere, adding to Sanrio popularity. Local merchants say sales are booming.
Randall Patterson, Sanrio vice president of sales and marketing, gives much credit to the growing Asian population in America for Sanrio's popularity. He recalled how Hello Kitty rice bowls and chopsticks weren't so hot with customers when America's first Sanrio boutique opened in 1976 in San Jose, Calif. Since the rapid growth in the Asian-American population, all kinds of Sanrio products are in demand - even the chopsticks.
``The Asian group has always been very familiar with Sanrio. And if a 14-year-old Asian girl is wearing Hello Kitty, then why not the rest of her classmates? Our Asian consumers have been a kind of Sanrio icebreaker for the rest of America,'' Patterson said.
Charlette Fernandez, 17, works at Pembroke Mall in the Shalyn Gifts shop, which specializes in Sanrio products. She said the merchandise sells quickly.
``All I hear is that they're really cute and that's why they buy them. The products are neat, like the beeper cases,'' said Fernandez, a senior at Green Run High School in Virginia Beach.
This year marks Hello Kitty's 20th birthday, and with teen-age girls across the country sporting Hello Kitty baseball caps, writing with Pochacco pencils and glancing at Winkipinki watches, one thing is certain - the cat is back. And she has a new posse.
Back when Hello Kitty was first introduced, department store booths were filled with characters like Patty & Jimmy (a little girl and boy), Bunny & Matty (a rabbit and mouse) and Tuxedo Sam (a penguin). Products ranged from chewing gum to luggage sets.
Kitty now hangs with a new crowd. Her more popular friends include Kerokerokeroppi the frog and a dog named Pochacco.
At LeFrogge Etc. at Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake, Kerokerokeroppi and Pochacco are the most popular characters.
Cherry Aranda, co-owner of LeFrogge Etc., said they sell a lot of ``tin purses.'' The purses are rectangular lunch boxes that teen-age girls use as purses.
``Most of our customers are high school girls. The guys who come in buy the stuff for the girls,'' Aranda said.
So after 20 years, what makes Kitty and company so cool?
Patterson said Sanrio tries to keep up with color fads. He said that in the '70s, Sanrio characters featured on lunch boxes and other goods stood in front of backdrops of basic blue, red and green - the ``in'' colors of the day. Now, the most popular design is what Patterson calls the ``holiday plaid,'' a kind of red-and-black motif.
The company admits that the Kitty hasn't always been cool.
Patterson said Sanrio went through a slump in the '80s because of poor marketing. But now the company is expanding and planning to release even more characters in the near future. MEMO: Michelle Mizal is a junior at Old Dominion University. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo by Mort Fryman/The Virginian-Pilot
Originally sold in Japan, Sanrio's Hello Kitty products have become
a huge hit with teens in this country.