Pete Martinez couldn’t understand why the extra-large thongs and panties bearing Colorado Rockies logos weren’t flying off the shelves Tuesday like all the other team gear.
“Maybe it’s because no man wants to give an extra-large anything to his wife,” mused Martinez, manager of the Sportsfan store on the 16th Street Mall. “So he buys her a cap.”
On any other day it would have been easy, but the one after the Rockies clinched baseball’s wild card entry to the postseason made even cap-buying a difficult proposition.
Many Denver stores that carry licensed Major League Baseball gear – caps, jerseys and anything else with a team logo – had a rough time Tuesday keeping up with the demand that comes with victory. Some people so badly wanted anything with a Rockies logo that all eight Sportsfan stores in Colorado were sold out of thongs and panties by midday – except the extra-larges.
And retailers are expecting things to get tougher as the playoffs unfold, particularly if the Rockies march to their first World Series appearance.
“People were waiting outside the door first thing this morning,” Martinez said of his store. “And it wasn’t much different at all our other stores. Everyone wants playoff stuff.”
Those items arrive today, he said.
Meanwhile, manufacturers are gearing up for what could be an explosive season for baseball gear, especially as storied and long-suffering teams vie for the coveted title.
“We turn our factories here in Buffalo and in Alabama to produce only the eight teams that are left,” said John De Waal, vice president of brand communication for New Era Cap Co. Inc., baseball’s official producer of caps and other on-field gear such as jerseys.
The driver of merchandise volume for each team – the gear isn’t produced in equal amounts – is fan interest, DeWaal said. And that varies from city to city.
“There’s almost always an upkick of sales for teams and their headwear when the playoffs start,” he said. “It’s all demand driven.”
But franchises with short histories aren’t in demand as much as long-standing teams such as the New York Yankees or Boston Red Sox. That can affect production and sales volumes.
“Teams that have been around a long time have generations of fans scattered all about the country,” DeWaal said. “The Rockies are a relatively new team compared to the Phillies or the Cubs.”
Winning the wild card might be enough to make Rockies gear cool to wear, but the more they win, the cooler they’ll get, DeWaal said.
“The first series people are tentative, but the demand upticks as the teams gets further along,” he said.
Stores such as Dick’s Sporting Goods won’t wait for demand to drive their inventory. Things got rolling moments after the Rockies were jumping around on the field.
“When the team hit the playoffs, especially the way the Rockies played their way in, there’s huge demand to get the product and we’re seeing it the first day,” said Jeffrey Hennion, Dick’s senior vice president and chief marketing officer.
Though Dick’s stores are in six of the eight playoff markets – only Los Angeles and Phoenix are not covered, though a Phoenix store opens in a few months – merchandizing remains a hometown affair, so Rockies gear is paramount in the chain’s eight Colorado locations.
“That the Rockies have never won and work their way to a win, the demand would be fantastic,” Hennion said.
LoDo resident Katie Kochenberger doesn’t have the patience to wait. A long- awaited postseason berth and a conflicting trip to Las Vegas had her grabbing whatever Rockies gear seemed to fit Tuesday.
“I’m bummed that I won’t be here,” she said as she purchased several T-shirts for relatives. “Who thought when we booked the trip that we were going to the playoffs?”
David Migoya: 303-954-1506 or dmigoya@denverpost.com
