Licensed Products

Licensed Sports Products (From page 131) sells best, and seasonally, football fanwear is always the biggest part of the year.” Basketball and baseball seasons also draw many shoppers, she attested.

When it comes to display, like-items are kept together overall. “We have our football sideline products together in one area, but we also merchandise a lot of T-shirts together, sports and non-sport T-shirts.”

Buyers are a robust mix. “We cater to students, fans from all over, alumni, everyone. The best way to serve them is to keep a wide variety of merchandise in the store,” Swanson stressed. “When purchasing, we make decisions as to who would fit best with each product; we’re price- sensitive to students, while alumni don’t care as much on price and are more driven by brand. So, we make decisions on whether something is a fan item for students or alumni.”

Mark Beskid , general manager of the Storm Baseball Team in Lake Elsinore, Calif. also runs the team store. Best-sellers: “On-field Baseball Caps– we have one of the most popular logos in all of baseball, majors and minors. People love the Storm ‘Eyes’ and most fans like to buy the same hats that the players wear on-field.” As to display, he said, “It’s important to make sure you have good sight lines to the products you are trying to push the most. And don’t group like-colored items together, or they start to blend with each other.” Customers, as with other fan stores, are varied. “We get a lot of travel ball teams and little league teams that buy our merch, but honestly everyone buys our products in-store and online. Due to our logo, I think it’s just popular with everyone.”

Also popular with just about everyone: licensed sports merchandise! ❖