Pearl Scavenger Hunt

Pearl Scavenger Hunt -- Here's a creative advertising idea!

She and her husband had been shopping at HH Gregg in Anderson, and as they were leaving the appliance store, something caught her eye.

A clear plastic bag held a small, black box wedged in shrubbery. McAlister opened it and found a strand of freshwater pearls. A card accompanied it: “Congratulations, and finders keepers! Merry Christmas from your friends at HGpearls.com.”

“I was shocked,” McAlister said.

If Gregory Guest has his way, around 110 other people will find presents in nooks across Anderson. Guest owns HGpearls.com, an online jewelry company based in Anderson that sells freshwater pearls. Last weekend, his family and friends helped him hide and give away some 200 pearl pieces across Anderson, Greenville and Asheville.

The value of the jewelry amounts to just over $20,000. Some would say Guest is losing $20,000 in sales, but he says he gains a satisfaction that has no price.

And he can’t fathom a more effective advertisement.

“I like giving things away,” he said. “I genuinely like to give, and I feel there is no better way to let people know what we’re doing than to brighten their day around Christmas.”

Pearl hot spots include AnMed Health Medical Center, the Civic Center of Anderson and St. Francis Hospital in Greenville. He posted clues on the business’s Facebook page.

Read entire story about pearl scavenger hunt here.