Almost everyone, it seems, wants to raise the Stanley cup, but not the one that signifies the National Hockey League championship.
Instead, it’s the very durable Stanley Quencher drinking cup.
And one woman allegedly loaded up a shopping cart with 65 of them at a retail store in the Sacramento, California, area and left without paying for them.
According to law enforcement authorities, she now faces a charge of grand theft.
A cop in city of Roseville, about 20 miles outside the capital city, pulled over the 23-year-old suspect over after workers at the unidentified store called 911 when they spotted her allegedly exiting the premises and driving off with wares.
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“The suspect refused to stop for staff and stuffed her car with the stolen merchandise,” Roseville police said in a Facebook post.
The value of the stolen Stanley goods reportedly amounts to about $2,500, according to the post. That could mean a felony charge even under the lax criminal laws in California, which has made the Democrat-controlled state a haven for shoplifting and other forms of wrongdoing.
“While Stanley Quenchers are all the rage, we strongly advise against turning to crime to fulfill your hydration habits. The Roseville Police Department remains committed to stopping retail theft,” Roseville PD added.
Do you own a Stanley cup?
There’s no denying that the 40-ounce Stanley Quencher, manufactured by the company that has been in business since 1913, has been a huge shot in the arm. Introduced in 2016, according to CNBC, the product helped grow Stanley’s revenue from $73 million in 2019 to about $750 million in 2023, CNBC reported.
That’s a game-changer other companies can only dream about.
With social media influencers hawking the tumbler in viral videos on TikTok, the product, which retails in the range of $35 to $45 on the Stanley website (and much more on eBay via resellers) has developed a cult-like following.
Presumably, the suspect had the reselling idea in mind, because as the police mentioned, that’s otherwise a lot of personal hydration.
In the meantime, it remains to be seen if the Quencher craze will go the way of Beanie Babies or other irrational consumer fads.
While some kind of status symbol for a segment of the consumer cohort, the product does have actual functionality going for it.
But that doesn’t explain the madness among consumers.
According to CBS News, “Colorful Stanley cups caused consumer mayhem earlier this month when the brand dropped a limited edition batch of Valentine’s Day colors of the popular tumbler at in-Target Starbucks locations.”
NBC’s “Today” Show tried to explain the Stanley cup phenomenon that has resulted in “online fervor leading to a whole new kind of ‘lightning in a bottle.’”
Note: Anyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless or until convicted in a court of law.
Second note: Anyone who walks by retail workers with a shopping cart full of $2,500 in stolen goods and expects not to be caught can be presumed to be not terribly bright, even in California.
