Mock turtleneck sales spike after Steve Jobs' passing
Steve Jobs. Visionary. Tech titan. Mock turtleneck.
Indeed, when playing word association with the late Apple chief, Jobs’ beltless-blue jeans-and-black-mock-turtleneck wardrobe is often the third or fourth thing that comes to mind.
It turns out, though, in the wake of the 56-year-old’s passing, the oft-ribbed look is now high in demand.
According to the Minnesota Business Journal, the company that famously sold the mock sweaters to Jobs by the dozen has seen a run on the turtlenecks since news of the Apple founder’s death.
St. Croix Collections, which manufactures the cotton/microfiber sweaters, reports sales of the familiar turtleneck doubled after Jobs’ death last Wednesday, and some stores have even run out of the garment.
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Remarkably, the sweaters are selling like wild despite coming with an “Um, what?”-$175 price tag.
On the St. Croix website, the black is still available in every size, so jump quick if you want one of the turtlenecks Jobs notably wore at near every public appearance and product unveiling.
By the estimation of Bernhard Brenner, the founder of the corporation that owns St. Croix Collections, Jobs would buy about two dozen of the mock turtlenecks each year. I guess, in its own way, that’s kind of like the tech world equivalent of Michael Jordan never wearing the same pair of basketball shoes twice.
In any case, in the same news cycle that Samsung announced it’d delay its smartphone release out of respect for a rival, and iPad scams popped up on Facebook to tricks users into believing Apple would be giving away the tablet in memoriam, it’s clear that Steve Jobs’ death is no isolated incident.
Apple’s stock has jumped since the Apple CEO passed. If St. Croix’s sales tells us anything, so, too, has the confidence of a few thousand dorky men trying to emulate the iPod maker’s look.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
*Photo courtesy Gawker.com.
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