OLD LYME, Connecticut (WTNH) – The owner of a kayak shop in Old Lyme has experienced the power of K-pop.
“I’m very surprised,” said Paul Ferreira, who heads the IT department at Black Hall Outfitters in Old Lyme. “We didn’t expect this at all.”
Old rower from Lyme helps the US team to Olympic gold
The surprise came a year after two members of K-pop band BTS, Jungkook and Jimin, tried their kayaking skills last summer.
Their kayaking trip is featured in a recent Disney+ series called “Are You Sure?!” in which they wear Black Hall Outfitter’s signature “Salty to the Core” crab-themed t-shirts.
“It was unbelievable,” said Ferreira. “Overnight, the entire stock was sold out.”
The shop owner gave the singers the shirts after Jungkook tipped over his kayak and fell into the water.
“It was pure coincidence,” Ferreira said. “We threw the shirt at them and thought, ‘Oh yeah, they’re going to like this, this is going to be cool,’ and then, all of a sudden, this thing, oh man, everything’s OK, just went through the roof.”
Black Hall Outfitters is capitalizing on this notoriety. The company now offers new colors and limited editions that are sold around the world.
People come to the store, too – and Ferreira said some of them make pilgrimages there. Carloads of people come to see where the filming took place and to sit in the same kayaks.
“I like them because there are so many of them and they make good music,” said BTS fan Anjali Alverado of Waterford.
The young BTS fan is also hoping to have her own T-shirt. But not just because of the person wearing it.
“I like it because of the design,” Alverado said.
The shop owner designed the T-shirts long before the K-pop stars came to town.
“When you see people posting on Instagram, ‘Oh, I’m in Italy and I got my shirt. Awesome.’ It’s so cool to see,” Ferreira said. “We love it.”
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports and streaming video, visit WTNH.com.
