Special Gifts Section

The Perfect Gifts (From page 22)

been a gift from someone. They’re fairly universal. Our logo is very recognizable. Our caps have either the Louie logo, the ‘C’ crown, which we developed many years ago, or the Copa Clinton Elotes logo.” (Elote is a popular street food in Mexico, consisting of a grilled cob of corn, seasoned with chile powder, cheese, mayo, salt, and juices. In this logo, the elote, representing Iowa’s top agricultural crop, steps up to the plate with its bat.) Besides hats, Tornow said bobbleheads are also strong sellers.

Ashley Williams , retail manager for the Biscuit Basket, team store for the Montgomery Biscuits minor league baseball team in Montgomery, Ala., said adjustable hats and classic tees are also their best-sellers: “They’re our best-selling item because they work for almost everyone and gives you just the right amount of taste into our team and organization”. For 2022, Williams will be featuring new items that players wear on the field: “For example, batting practice shorts and tops. Professional athletes are highly admired, and many individuals aspire to be one, or even just look like one. So, putting these items in the store for sale gives them that opportunity.”

Heads and Tails in Tampa, Fla, a longtime local retailer, carries merchandise for professional and collegiate Florida sports teams. Drinkware is one of their biggest sellers in the gifts category. “It’s collegiate apparel for Florida and Florida State [in gifts]. In drinkware, we do a lot with Tervis, and another company called Gametime Sidekicks,” said Stephen Sherman , who recently became Heads and Tails’ new co-owner with business partner Adam Snyder . “Anything that has to do with retro team logos does well, too.”

Because of ongoing supply chain issues, it’s been challenging for some retailers to stock merchandise. Reese said she’s had to change some of her orders a bit. Looking ahead to 2022, she said fans can expect to find some new gift items in the team store, although their classic merchandise continues to sell best. “I’ve gotten a lot more variety as far as our novelty items. We’ve gotten in a new ornament. We have a teddy bear that’s coming in—people have asked for small stuffed animals for kids,” she said. “But in terms of new items, things in our store tend to stay the same. I try to look and get new items that would be trendy, but even then, a lot of that wouldn’t necessarily sell well in our market. It’s more with staying consistent with what we offer, although we do vary shirt designs.” Reese said she is always open to new items if she can get them in.

The Lookouts team store carried several new hat and T-shirt designs, including an American Sign Lan- guage (ASL) T-shirt, during the holiday season. “This shirt was inspired by our Deaf Awareness Night and features ‘Lookouts’ in ASL script,” Crum explained.

Sherman said he and his team look for unique items to appeal to their customers. “We have decanter sets for the teams by a company called Heritage Pewter. They’re really nice products. Because the Bucs [Tampa Bay Buccaneers] won the Super Bowl and the Tampa Bay Lightning won the Stanley Cup, the city’s been termed ‘Champa Bay’. Anything with that saying on it has been selling—barware to wallets to coffee mugs to mini trophies. We work with a local company called Bourbon and Bowties who came out with acrylic earrings that say ‘Champa Bay.’ They’re really cool,” he said.

As for gift trends during the holiday season and into 2022, Crum said, “People seem to be gravitating towards unique and personal gifts this holiday season. Our custom personalized on-field jerseys are very popular and have been flying off the shelf.” Sherman predicted stainless steel or metal drinkware will be big in the gift category, and the “athleisure environment” in apparel will continue. Williams said some of the gift trends she is seeing are “novelties for outside play such as bats, catching gloves, and even flyers and balls for dogs. Physical activity has increased within the past years, and I think that a lot of individuals value the time they get to spend with their loved ones outside having fun.”

Fan store operators rely on social media to spread the word about new items and promote events, specials, and other important happenings. Many take a cross-promotion approach to merchandising, focusing on the new items shared on social media when arranging displays within the store. Reese does this regularly. “We’ll highlight different items that we have in the store on our social media pages. We’ll get people who come in because they saw the items online. I also tend to change the layout of the store pretty frequently. Because of the nature of our industry, we have season ticket holders, so I’ll try to rearrange things a little bit so something catches your eye when you walk in. I could change something or move it, and people will think it’s a new item. Rearrange and post on social media—they’re the two things I do to make items stand out.” Tornow said, “With 500

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