Mirror, Mirror: Watches bring joy to the ages

Apple may be aiming for its just-released iWatch to be the timepiece of the summer, but as it stands, the JoyJoy! brand is more than a few hours ahead, emerging as the year's must-have digital arm candy for tweens, teens - and their moms.

In just eight months, Saul Denenberg and Brett Pulli have sold more than 15,000 of the light-up watch heads and graphic-heavy interchangeable bands. Available nationwide in 357 surf stores and boutiques, including the upscale Fred Segal, the Souderton-based JoyJoy! hit Nordstrom.com in early March - where they sold out in two weeks.

"Kids were stocking up on extra JoyJoy! bands all weekend," said Pam Katz, owner of Lafayette Hill's Down 2 Earth Kids. Katz doubled up on her JoyJoy! inventory last weekend for the store's annual camp show. "The big sellers were tie-dye for girls, camouflage for boys, and glow-in-the-dark for everyone."

There is major cool factor in a waterproof watch these days. After all, who wants to risk losing a smartphone - with all of its stored selfies and contacts - at the beach?

But the true power of JoyJoy! lies in the range of ages it attracts. JoyJoy! has the same Gen Z appeal (that's ages 7 to 14) as juicy-colored, animal-shaped Silly Bandz and punchy Stance Socks. Similarly, thanks to an array of $15 convertible wristbands, JoyJoy! is reminiscent of the old-school Swatch watch of the '80s - cue here the giddy Gen X mom.

"Kids, you know how they are. They get bored with stuff," said Jamie Adler, 44, a Blue Bell mother of 14-year-old twins, who likes the watches enough to wear them, too. "They are like toys for them. They are bright-colored. They are cool. They are just fun."

The five $20 watch-head options feature blue, yellow, green, purple, and red blinking LED lights, and on the bands, magnified images of jelly beans and gummy bears - just two of 65 designs.

"I love go-carts and bubbles and all things kids like," said Pulli. "Without those things, life is just boring."

Watches - and selling - are in Pulli's blood. His brother, Martin, sells high-end watches in his Manayunk store, Martin Pulli Fine Jewelry and Watches. And as an elementary-school-age kid in Fort Washington, he helped his uncle in his Abington auction house, learning the art of the sale. As a tween, he worked as a caddie at Manufacturers' Golf & Country Club, learning the art of the hustle.

"I caddied for people who were extremely wealthy - socialites who owned their own businesses," Pulli, 43, said. "I listened to what they talked about as I carried their bags. It was a huge life education."

When he was a student at Penn State during the '90s, Pulli bought screen-printing equipment - back then, a novelty. Athletes such as then-Portland Trailblazer Rasheed Wallace and then-NFL running back Blair Thomas (both from Philly), and up-and-coming performers such as the Roots were willing to spend thousands of dollars on bundles of T-shirts personalized with their logos. Pulli was especially well-known in the African American fashion community, on the cusp of its ascent to the lifestyle-brand mainstream.

In the early 2000s, the oversize jeans and logo-heavy T-shirt and sweatshirt looks began to transition to preppy, what would eventually become the fitted skater-meets-surfer look. However, Pulli realized that sneakers - whether retro or of-the-moment - would be a mainstay. So in 1999, Pulli took on Puma's Mid-Atlantic sales division. His territory included a large swath of inner-city markets, including Philadelphia - he sold Pumas to the stores Dr. Denim and City Blue - Wilmington, Baltimore, Washington, and Richmond, Va.

"They knew me as Mr. Puma," Pulli said.

More important, Pulli said, he learned how to set up eye-catching retail displays, forecast popular colors, and understand how certain color combinations affected emotions.

"Regardless of age, gender, social, and economic products, people were purchasing the same products," Pulli said.

He went on to develop accessories for Miskeen, a Philly-based company known for bold, hand-painted T's that was purchased by Dr. Denim. He began to see how companies - especially the ones that sold to the urban market - took customers for granted, minimizing the parts that made the products special. In the case of Miskeen, the hand-drawn logo became mass-produced.

"They treated the customers as if they would always be loyal," Pulli said.

Four years ago, while working for Adidas, Pulli came up with the idea to make interchangeable watchbands - or skins - that would hold Casio's popular G-Shock watches, which, at the time, were just as popular with soccer moms and surfer kids as they were with rap artists, especially Kanye West. Pulli partnered with Denenberg, who had just sold a company that developed industrial cleaning buffing pads. Denenberg invested about $40,000 to start up Slingshox, a company to sell watch skins.

After two years of trying to hit a fashion sweet spot, Pulli decided he was no longer interested in piggybacking on Casio's popularity. It was time to invest in whimsical watch head-and-skin combinations.

Pulli connected with a manufacturing facility in Hong Kong (the pieces are assembled at a Souderton warehouse), launching the collection at www.joyjoywatches.com and 10 retail stores.

Pulli's plans include manufacturing additional accessories, such as a DIY JoyJoy! band and umbrellas. He also wants to collaborate on charitable projects. Next month, the company will introduce a Mo'ne Davis watch head with three baseball-inspired bands, and $45 of the $70 set will go toward refurbishing the baseball field at the Marian Anderson Recreation Center.

Pulli ultimately went with the name JoyJoy! because he saw how the retail industry classified buyers into groups - urban vs. mainstream, rich vs. poor, young vs. old. His goal became to build a company that would bring joy to all.

"This is about the basic essence of who people are," Pulli said. "At our core, we all want joy. This brand is about starting conversation about how art, fashion color, and culture collide."