Fans of the Elizabeth
Gilbert travelogue/romance novel Eat Pray Love might've wanted to wrap
themselves in a paisley tunic, put Juti sandals on their feet and toss a
prayer shawl over their shoulders while writing their own
soul-searching prose in a colorful leather journal. Now they can. These
items, most of them branded Eat Pray Love after the best-selling book
and the upcoming Columbia Pictures movie with Julia Roberts, are
available at Cost Plus World Market. There's a whole themed
shop-within-a-shop, in fact, featuring copies of the book, Indonesian
sarongs, handmade stationery, yoga mats, beaded necklaces, tea pots and
meditation bells. (There's also a contest attached that sends winners
trekking Gilbert's path through Italy, India and Indonesia). It's not
the first time that an upscale adult-targeted flick has created licensed
product and/or retail boutiques—see: Sex and the City, Moulin Rouge,
Memoirs of a Geisha—but it's an especially clever partnership. The
demo of boho World Market shoppers and Gilbert aficionados match up
perfectly, and the promotion has just the right mix of function and
aspiration. It can live with or without a hit movie. In a word:
brilliant. (But don't bet against Roberts—the movie opens Aug. 13.
Watch the trailer that recently launched on TV here.)
