Don't need to trek to D.C. for Obama memorabilia
The Funk-E-Breeze store in the Westview Fox Valley Shopping Center in Aurora is one of hundreds of businesses across the suburbs that is selling trinkets featuring Barack Obama's image.
The mall store sells coffee mugs, magnets, vanity license plates and chains with Obama's name engraved on a plate. Plus, it has nearly a dozen T-shirts with the president-elect's image cast against familiar pop culture references.
There's the Star Wars-themed shirt, where Obama's family is dressed as Jedi knights. There's a James Bond-esque image of Obama in a tuxedo, holding what looks to be a hybrid of a gun and microphone. And then there's the staple image of Obama striking a clearly presidential pose.
"We've had parents coming in asking where they can buy Obama onesies for their babies," said store clerk Shruti Anders, who noted that the store is on its sixth order of Obama-related merchandise - mostly T-shirts - since the November election.
"People want change," Anders said. "The economy (stinks), people are losing their jobs. This is one way they're voicing their support for something different."
The abundance of Obama memorabilia is not just in suburban Chicago, but around the world. So Obama may be one of the most marketed president-elects in history.
"Don't get me wrong. I'm an Obama fan. But these places are playing on people's emotions to make a quick buck," said Jon Bershiem, who was perusing a stock of Obama portraits on display outside of the mall's Big Dollar store. "All this merchandising just seems like it's cheapening the importance of the upcoming inauguration."
That sentiment, however, wasn't shared by Nora Hill of Aurora, who snapped up an image of Obama during his election night address in Chicago's Grant Park.
"It's just a simple reminder of the man who's now in charge," she said.
At Anderson's Bookshop in Naperville, a display at the front of the store holds copies of Obama's books, as well as several children's books chronicling Obama's biography.
Store employee Carol Katsoulis said the books have been selling steadily for the past two months.
Comic book enthusiasts eager to snap up the latest copy of The Amazing Spiderman featuring Obama will be hard-pressed to find a copy in the area. Brandon Mattingly, a store employee at Graham Crackers Comics in Wheaton, said both his store and the Naperville store sold all their copies on Wednesday, the day of the release.
"We had phone calls about the comic for a week leading up to the release," Mattingly said. "We're hoping the next shipment comes in real soon."