How does a small West Kootenay clothing store become a social-media sensation literally overnight?
All it takes is a little creativity from staff and a 91ƵHot Boss91Ƶ by the name of Rhylan Streloff.
JJ91Ƶs Fashions in Trail has attracted over 1.2 million followers and over 22.7 million likes on video-sharing app TikTok.
91ƵWe91Ƶre literally ecstatic,91Ƶ said store employee Madicyn Dobie. 91ƵWhen we hit one million followers, we were freaking out. We91Ƶre from Trail, and it91Ƶs such a small town and a small area so for anyone whether a business or anything.
91ƵFor a million people to follow you when you91Ƶre from such a small area 91Ƶ it91Ƶs insane.91Ƶ
JJ91Ƶs, like many local businesses, had been hit hard by the pandemic, so in October, employees Dobie and Paige Witt decided to combine fashion with fun and create a post of two young employees swooning over their obliviously handsome boss.
They convinced Streloff to play along and Dobie filmed and edited a short 15-second video of the two young women popping to the Jack Harlow tune 91ƵWhats Poppin91Ƶ in an effort to get their Hot Boss91Ƶ attention.
The video91Ƶs success was unexpected.
91ƵHe wanted to take the first video we made down,91Ƶ said Dobie. 91ƵThen we woke up the next day and it had three million views.91Ƶ
Streloff was a little self-conscious and concerned at first, but soon the popularity and growing number of followers helped ease any reservations.
91ƵIt was funny, but I was worried because it was a little edgy, and I am always worried about what people think, but in the end we are just having fun,91Ƶ said Streloff.
And as for the term 91ƵHot Boss?91Ƶ
91ƵIt91Ƶs a little strange for me, but I just have to take it as a joke, and have fun with it. Even the coffee bar across the street, they write it on my coffee cup.91Ƶ
The JJ91Ƶs team collaborates on all their videos.
The exposure proved a big help in launching JJ91Ƶs online website, and while it hasn91Ƶt yet proved a huge financial windfall, its social-media reach is off the charts with over 100,000 million views so far.
91ƵThat (the pandemic) was the reason I didn91Ƶt take it down, and we kept doing this,91Ƶ explained Streloff. 91ƵAt any point we could be shut down and our business has been affected so to get an online store going, and building a following this way, at least we know we have the backup and a little revenue coming in.91Ƶ
JJ91Ƶs has been in business for 37 years, started by Streloff91Ƶs grandmother in Castlegar and continued by his father. Streloff took over the business after working for 10 years in the oil and gas industry.
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