From: Phil deHaan (dehp@calvin.edu)
Date: Wed Dec 11 2002 - 13:42:01 EST
December 11, 2002 == FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Type "maroon and gold tie" into a search engine such as Google or Yahoo and the
first website URL that is displayed goes to the Calvin College Bookstore where
one of the items for sale, and pictured, is a maroon and gold, diagonally
striped tie.
Why is this significant? Because, lately, Harry Potter fans have been typing
that phrase into search engines and finding Calvin's site, joyfully finding
Calvin's site says Bookstore clothing buyer Brenda Hoeksema.
"Maroon and gold are the colors that Harry Potter wears in the movies," says
Hoeksema. "And Harry Potter fans want the tie he wears. When they find that we
have pretty much the exact tie you see in the movie they get really excited."
Indeed one fan from California was quite excited. He was looking for two
maroon and gold, diagonally striped ties for his kids and had struck out on
previous attempts. When Hoeksema told him she indeed had the tie pictured on
the Calvin website and had it in stock he blurted out "I love you."
The happily married Hoeksema says it's a sentiment she doesn't hear too often
from Bookstore shoppers.
"It's been kind of fun," she says, of the sudden run on Calvin ties (and the
excitement surrounding them). Hopefully when they (Potter fans) come to our
website they look around a little too and find out more about Calvin."
In the last two months Hoeksema has sold 20 maroon and gold ties, including six
with horizontal stripes and 14 diagonals. That's triple the number of diagonal
ties she's sold in previous years. But in previous years the ties were not
pictured on the Calvin website. The images went up for the first time this
fall. And so did sales.
Hoeksema says the images were not timed to coincide with the new Harry Potter
movie. "We just wanted to add more (images) to the (Bookstore) website," she
says.
And how does Calvin, one of the counry's top Christian colleges, feel about its
accidental association with Harry Potter, criticized in some religious circles
for its wizards and spells.
Well, last year the Calvin alumni magazine, Spark, did a feature story on Harry
Potter. In that piece, Calvin English professor Don Hettinga said of the
books: "I think they're great. The stories are engaging, but beyond that there
is a moral dimension. There are some very worthwhile themes in the book. Kids
who are 'outsiders' and then become the heroes; that's the stuff of a good
story. The books are formulaic with predictable characters, but there's always
a surprise in the end. The evil figure is never who you thought it would be."
And Calvin vice president of enrollment and external relations Tom McWhertor
says: ""Harry Potter seems to be a bright student who's also humble and willing
to help a friend. So he's the kind of student we have at Calvin. And he
wouldn't have to buy a new necktie to come here."
Contact Hoeksema at 616-957-6821
Contact McWhertor at 616-957-6650
See the Spark story on Harry Potter at
http://www.calvin.edu/publications/spark/fall01/harry.htm
See the Bookstore search engine URL at
http://www.calvin.edu/bookstore/clothes/ties.htm
See a picture of the "Harry Potter" tie at
http://www.calvin.edu/bookstore/image/origs/0500001100.jpg
-end-
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