Millennial and Gen Z women are lining up for hours to buy this cheap jewelry
It’s a charmed life.
Millennial and Zoomer women with lots of extra time on their hands and a desire to put cute, shiny things on their wrists are lining up for hours to make inexpensive charm bracelets and necklaces at Brooklyn Charm.
“Some of my friends who I consider to be trendy Gen-Z girls came into work wearing the necklaces,” said Kate Dobie, a 38-year-old who lives in midtown and works for a podcast company.
Last Saturday, she and a friend journeyed to Greenpoint boutique to brave the line to buy some of the jewelry for themselves.
“If the sub-30-year-olds think this is cute and fun, it must be,” Dobie said.
Brooklyn Charm opened on Manhattan Avenue in June 2023, replacing a Williamsburg location that closed in 2020 amid the pandemic after operating for a decade. But, in the past few months, the shop has exploded in popularity thanks to TikTok.
“Of course you want to be busy, but at the beginning it was a little scary,” said owner Adrienne Nappi, who also has a Brooklyn Charm kiosk in Chelsea Market. “We didn’t have a lot of stuff. We didn’t have a lot of inventory. Our business model wasn’t made for that kind of volume.”
On weekends, the wait can sometimes stretch for three hours, according to Nappi. She’s recently instituted a waitlist policy to make things a bit less painful. After letting in the first 30 people in line when the store opens, she takes the names and phone numbers of wannabe shoppers. When there is space for them, they get a text to come in — as if at a hot restaurant.
“The later you show up, the longer the wait is,” said Nappi.
Once inside the 800-square-foot store, shoppers are given a tray and a “shopping speech” before being unleashed to choose from hundreds of whimsical charms, priced from $3 to $25.
The speech includes shopping rules, such as you must use a tray and drinks must be left at the front, and tips.
“If you choose an even amount of charms, your piece will look uneven when you wear it,” Nappi advised.
Five or seven charms are recommended for a bracelet, seven or nine for a necklace. Customers must also select a chain (prices start at $6), and then have it all assembled by a store associate.
The process can take 10 minutes or two hours, depending on the crowds.
“People need to be aware, it’s not in and out,” said Nappi. “Don’t come in before the airport.”
Indeed, the shop is popular with tourists, thanks both to social media and its Big Apple-centric tchotchkes — such as New York skyline and pepperoni pizza slice charms (both $4 each).
Dobie brought her friend, Molly Sanford, who was visiting from Minnesota and looking for souvenirs.
Sandford chose a microphone charm because they did private karaoke; a television, because they saw an art installation with a bunch of TVs; and a cherry because Dobie has a slot machine in her apartment.
“I was searching for charms that spoke to our trip and the goofy little moments,” said the 37-year-old.
Younger locals are also lining up.
On Saturday, Eliza Blatt, 25, and three friends lined up outside of the store at 10:30 a.m. ahead of the store’s 11 a.m. opening. They were lucky enough to be let in when it opened, but Blatt, who lives in Manhattan and was celebrating her birthday, said they wouldn’t have minded queuing up if needed.
“We would have waited an hour if we had to.”
