Jackson’s Geelong fans rush city shops

Jessica Benton
Michael Jackson fans have swamped Geelong music and collectable stores searching for memorabilia of the music icon.
Stores reported that the rush began after the 50-year-old pop star’s shock death at his Los Angeles mansion last Friday.
Mill Markets assistant manager Jo Casey said an “odd collection” of Michael Jackson memorabilia sold soon after reports of Jackson’s death.
“We had a few people in over the weekend and they bought the items we had that related to Michael Jackson,” she said.
“If anything comes into the building now it’ll probably have a higher price tag.”
Ms Casey said fans snapped up products including old LPs, a world tour T-shirt and a selection of CDs.
She expected the fans would keep their purchases as mementos or re-sell them at higher prices.
“The lady who bought the T-shirt was very excited and was going to go home and frame it,” Ms Casey said.
“One person bought a double album as a gift for a relative.”
Adam Fitzgerald, who owns Geelong’s Capricorn Records, also reported selling out of Jackson CDs and DVDs.
“We sold out of stock straight after it was announced,” he said.
But How Bizarre’s Peter Summers expected the Jackson hype to be short-lived.
“It’s a flash-in-the-pan kind of thing,” he said.
“I had a couple of records that have now all gone.
“People think they’re going to be able to go online and sell these things and they’ll make big bucks but it’ll probably only last a couple of weeks.”