HBC not making a penny on Olympic mitten sales
Today’s Olympic Mitten Update comes from Time, which is a little late to the story, considering there are only three days left in the Games. Heck, even Oprah scooped them.
HBC’s CEO, Jeffery Sherman, tells Time that 3.5 million pairs have been sold since they went on sale in October—1.5 million of them were sold this month—and that the company doesn’t make a penny off the sales. Sherman says that the proceeds from the mittens ($12 million so far) go to the Canadian Olympic Committee to fund athletes’ programs. Sherman says he doesn’t regret not getting a piece of the profits and that “we entered this to do the right thing.” Besides, the hype surrounding the accessory has led to increased traffic in the stores and overall sales.
As for people who waited until the last minute to get their mitts on a pair of same, Sherman says that they’re going to retire them for the season. His words to the mitten-less people around the world: “I’m sorry.”
If it’s any consolation, we saw a small supply of the 2002 Olympic berets at the Eaton Centre Roots store over the weekend.
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