. . . you know . . . empowerment!!!
Also getting the job done journalism-wise is Phil Eil over at the Providence Phoenix with his cover story of the rapidly expanding Alex and Ani empire (“It’s Alex and Ani’s State . . .”).
When this business first showed up on our radar nobody wanted to be hating on an apparently successful local enterprise — not at a time when the state economy needed all the help it could get — but there was just something awfully strange about their exponential rate of growth, and the size and variety of their acquisitions. Who over the last few years hasn’t wondered “What am I missing here? Bangles?” And all that new age gobbledegook didn’t help. Eil found this gem.
These bracelets are infused with “the beneficial positive energy that scientists refer to as vital force,” the company says.
Yes, there’s science behind these claims I’m sure. So people could be forgiven for thinking that a bangle bubble might be about to burst and that somehow we were all going to get hurt. And by the way, how ever do they sell this flimsy tat in the Hamptons? Palm Beach?
At any rate, the article lays out the background and answers many questions. Telling detail: As Eil was interviewing Alex and Ani CEO Giovanni Feroce, a television on the wall was tuned silently to Fox News. So that’s where they get their science.
This is good reading.