‘Staples Rock’ Causes Stir in Orleans

Move over, Nauset Beach. The biggest attraction in Orleans this summer is nothing more than a giant boulder.

The oversized rock, which was dug up earlier this year from the parking lot of Orleans Marketplace on Route 6A, is housed inside a fenced-off island in the store's parking lot. 

Dubbed Staples Rock, the boulder has taken the social media world by storm, with people posting pictures and creating content that has gone viral.

“What they did is create the best marketing no one can pay for,” said Janice Otis, business manager for Cape Cod Brokerage, which owns the shopping plaza, in an interview with the Cape Cod Chronicle.

Otis explained that the rock was discovered while the parking lot of the shopping center was being excavated to install sewer mains. Otis lobbied for getting the boulder out of the ground in one piece and displaying it as a landscape feature in the parking lot.  

According to the Cape Cod Chronicle, Staples Rock now has its own designation on a Google Maps search of the property.

Local businesses have also been cashing in on the rock craze. 

Yardarm has named a drink on its bar menu after the boulder. “The Rock,” featuring cranberry Deep Eddy vodka, ginger beer, and lime, has become a sensation with guests, said waitress and bartender Karen Menard.

Otis said that if the rock continues to generate interest into the summer, a naming ceremony and ribbon-cutting event could be held. Suggestions have also been proposed for holding a “rock” concert on the property.

“It's all quite fascinating,” she stated. “It really is, because for some reason it brought this community together. It's bringing eyes to Orleans.”