Margaret Contreras
LV Life Editor
Hello Kitty turned 50 this year, which made consumers eager to buy the iconic kitty stuff, from clothing to accessories, to house decorations and more. Limited Hello Kitty items have been released throughout the year.
And with holiday shopping upon us, more and more merchandise is being released across the stores.
Fall Hello Kitty stuff included blankets, decorations, sweaters and more.
Winter stuff includes Hello Kitty Christmas tree decorations, blue Hello Kitty sweaters, cups, purses and more. Loungefly, a popular fashion accessory company collaborated with Sanrio, the Hello Kitty company, to release themed bags, wallets and backpacks.
Collections for Hello Kitty and the rest of the Sanrio characters, such as Melody, Kuromi, Badtz-maru, Cinnamoroll, and more are continuing to be released in stores such as Forever 21, Hot Topic, GameStop, Marshalls, Target, Five Below and more.
The craze for the new merchandise stems from social media and TikTok videos going viral with people getting into fights over some of the merchandise in stores such as Marshalls.
According to CNN business, the company itself pulled in $6.5 billion last year, ranking it right behind the Walt Disney company and Mattel, which brought us the Barbie doll.
“Personally I haven’t seen too much aggression,” said Nicole Kunzel, who works at Forever 21 in the Santa Anita Mall. “But if something gets too out of hand we have mall security step in.”
Forever 21 has released new clothing with the Sanrio characters. The collection is called Hello Kitty and Friends, with clothing ranging from jackets, shirts, sweats and pajamas. There are accessories as well, with necklaces, hats, slippers and boots.
“Obviously the country is very reliant on social media and people sharing stuff they find,” MINISO Santa Anita mall shopper, Ileana Aleyda, said. “I think it could be crazy, especially with Christmas coming.”
MINISO is a Chinese store that was founded in 2013 in Guangzhou, China. There are stores around the world, including cities like London, Paris, Dubai, Los Angeles, New York and Istanbul.
MINISO has a collection that ranges mostly with accessories to decorate your home, stationary, cups and makeup. The store even sells perfumes and home fragrances.
When a certain item is not available in store, workers would recommend checking online and possibly order it to have delivered to the customer’s home or to the store. But some consumers do not trust ordering the merchandise online.
“I prefer to shop in stores,” Aleyda said. “You can see if it’s like the way it looks online and too you can see if it’s legit. There are too many people reselling this merchandise for a crazy amount of money.”
Hop Topic also released a 50th anniversary collection, it ranges from varsity jackets to jeans to t-shirts. The store is also selling accessories, from wallets to small backpacks and mochi squish toys. The holiday Hello Kitty and Friends collection is also available with Christmas themes of small trees, tree skirts, pillows, cups and clothings.
Hot Topic Santa Anita mall worker Eve Alavez has seen some aggressive customers come through the store looking for particular items.
“People get aggressive with us when we don’t have an item in store,” Alavez said. “I personally don’t think the holidays will bring too many aggressive shoppers. I usually try to encourage them to order it online.”
Many fans have also decided to make or learn to make their own Sanrio merchandise. They are, however, not officially licensed sellers for the Sanrio company. However, craft stores like Hobby Lobby and Michaels sell do-it-yourself kits for people to learn how to knit or draw the beloved characters. There is even licensed fabric to make clothes.
Self-taught crochet seller, Tabitha Lee, found patterns and learned how to make the characters on fabric keychains and small stuffed animals.
“I have been doing crochet for about two years,” Lee said. “I look up patterns online and I usually make them for myself or for my friends. I sell other things that I make like hats or key chains that look a bit similar to the iconic characters but are not really them, people can see they are different.”
The love for the Sanrio characters is sometimes passed from generations to generations. Even with the limited Sanrio stores.
“I remember going to a Sanrio store with my older sisters,” Lee said. “I think nowadays our generation is growing up and decided we should bring back some of the characters from our childhood. It’s become a nostalgic thing now.”
Margaret Contreras can be reached at margaret.contreras@laverne.edu.
Magaret Contreras is a senior communications major with a concentration in public relations. She is editorial director and LV Life editor of the Campus Times and previously worked as editor-in-chief and a staff writer.
Vicente Rodriguez is a senior photography major with a marketing minor and a staff photographer for the Campus Times. He has previously served as photography editor of the Campus Times and a staff photographer for La Verne Magazine.
