BTS member Jung Kook's plunge into the Black Hall River good for business in Old Lyme
Aug. 12—OLD LYME — The tranquility of the Black Hall River was upended like Jung Kook's kayak when the Korean pop sensation and his BTS bandmate Jimin were seen by a legion of worldwide fans on the 8-episode Disney+ travel reality show "Are You Sure?!"
Gene Chmiel, the owner of Black Hall River Outfitters, said he wasn't familiar with BTS when the two men showed up to film a segment of the show on July 14 of last year. But the wild success of Chmiel's Salty to the Core clothing brand in the wake of the episode's release this summer told him everything he needed to know about the band's global reach.
Sales began to take off about three weeks ago when members of its legion of fans known as "Army" saw Jung Kook wearing the shirt on a trailer for the show. They traced its origins back to the Black Hall River Outfitters website before spreading the word on social media.
"Overnight, our site blows up and every single shirt we owned was sold out in 12 minutes," he said.
Chmiel kicked up production through a third-party fulfillment house in order to meet a demand that only increased with the release of the full episode on the streaming platform this past Thursday. Now, he said the company has printed and shipped "thousands and thousands and thousands" of the Salty to the Core T-shirts, including a special edition shirt designed in purple to represent the BTS fan base.
Chmiel said he's donating 10% of the proceeds from the special edition shirt to UNICEF, the charity of choice for BTS.
"Are You Sure?!" is billed by Hybe, the entertainment company behind the K-pop supergroup, as a "fun filled friendship trip" that Jung Kook, 26, and Jimin, 28, took before entering the South Korean military last December. A New York-based production company contracted by Hybe to coordinate the segments was "cryptic" about the show and its stars during three scouting missions to the site, according to Chmiel.
He recounted calling his 28-year-old daughter when the pair arrived to ascertain just how big of a deal they were. That's when she described BTS as a bigger global phenomenon than American singer Taylor Swift.
"Well, they're here," he recalled telling his incredulous daughter. "And we're filming them kayaking."
Chmiel chalked the pair's presence in the area to a combination of factors, including their visit to nearby New York City for an appearance on the Today Show.
"And I think the goal was to capture these guys in summer action mode. So they were probably looking at opportunities to do that, and we definitely have created a little bit of a name for ourselves in the kayak space," he said.
He also described Old Lyme as a place where they could escape attention on a tranquil wildlife preserve.
"I think it was basically because they were concerned about crowds," he said. "If the news got out, there would have been thousands and thousands of fans here."
'Ravenous' fans
Footage from the episode shows Jung Kook, who departed behind Jimin, had barely left the dock in the kayak before tipping over. A look back from Jimin resulted in the dry paddler's uproarious laughter.
Chmiel guessed a visit to the High Nine brewery in Deep River before arriving in Old Lyme might have contributed to Jung Kook's unsteadiness.
"He was not well versed in kayaking. We picked him out of the water, dried him off a little bit," he said.
The owner of the kayak sales and rental business estimated they then spent about an hour and a half paddling through the area where multiple rivers meet more than 500 acres of preserved marshland at the juncture of Long Island Sound.
"So when they got back, they were wet," he said. "We came out with a couple shirts and we said 'What do you think?'"
It was dusk when the men left in their new shirts with an entourage of about 30 vehicles and multiple drones on their way to the Getaway Machimoodus campground in East Haddam for the next leg of their journey, according to Chmiel. He didn't hear anything more for a year.
"Then it went kind of crazy," he said. "It's just been this wild ride."
He recounted visits to the shop from people asking to sit in the kayaks used by the singers. Faraway fans have tagged the shop in unboxing videos on social media as they receive their shirt orders. Others posted pictures from "Are You Sure?!" watch parties with references to the Salty to the Core T-shirts.
He described the fans of BTS as "ravenous" for content.
Chmiel, a former retail marketing executive who took over the kayak shop upon his father's death 10 years ago, expressed admiration for the business plan guiding BTS through its military hiatus.
The Associated Press in 2022 reported fierce public debate over whether BTS members should be exempted from their military duties. But the entertainment company behind the group later said all seven members would fulfill their obligations, adding that both the company and the BTS members were looking forward to reconvening as a group around 2025 following their service commitment.
The show was filmed last summer while three members were already serving and four were preparing for departure.
"So now they've got content to keep them in the news," Chmiel said. "It's very strategic execution on their part to keep their fans satiated."