LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Glittering stones, symbols from all over the world, and a certain energy filled every corner of Karma and Luck's eight brick-and-mortar locations before the coronavirus pandemic forced founder and CEO Vladi Bergman to close them all.
"It changed immediately," Bergman said while standing in his now open store in the Mandalay Bay Shoppes.
He says he had to lay off 90% of his staff and watch his merchandise, designed to lift people up and give their lives deeper meaning, sit in the dark with everyone else.
"Waking up few days in a row in a cold sweat, you don't really know what to do," Bergman said. "The uncertainty is the biggest depression of humans."
Bergman took action by gathering all of his stock into one location and launching everything online, and found that people all over the world were desperate for the products he was offering.
The store sells works crafted by artisans from many different cultures and belief systems in an attempt to bring people closer together, something many were missing while socially distancing.
Bergman says the store was so successful during this period he couldn't turn his back on his newfound luck and decided to pay it forward to two local organizations helping others in Las Vegas.
"As a local brand, it's important for us to support the local community during hard times," he said.
The Karma and Luck team was able to help feed people in need by contributing a portion of every red protection bracelet sold to Three Square Food Bank, totaling more than 48,000 meals, and give hope to people who may feel hopeless by donating a portion of every manifestation tree sale to the Make-A-Wish Foundation to the tune of more than $25,000.
"Something that was very inspiring for all of us," Bergman said.
Bergman says there's no plan to rest on the success he's seen to date, and plans to continue his philanthropic work as long as his own karma and luck holds.
