BULLS MERCHANDISE SELLING SO WELL OTHER TEAMS NOT IN THE MIX

          The NBA retail market is examined by Dana Parker in
     NSGA RETAIL FOCUS.  Since winning their fifth championship,
     Bulls merchandise "has been outselling other teams' at a
     rate not seen after their earlier successes."  All other
     teams are a "distant second, though there's some scattered
     support" for Lakers, Knicks, Jazz and T'Wolves merchandise. 
     Pro Image's Dave Riley: "[O]verall the league has lost
     steam; it's slowed way down in the past six months.  MLB is
     doing better. ... For us, it's just the Bulls and the
     Lakers.  Kevin Garnett and [Allen] Iverson have hurt
     themselves with the lunch-pail crowd.  We need more people
     like Grant Hill."  Champion replica jerseys "continue to be
     the single most important item in apparel," but most
     retailers say that their "current level of sales 'ain't what
     it used to be.'"  Parker adds the NBA "seems to understand
     the current situation" and "has plans to help diversify the
     product on a local level" (RETAIL FOCUS, 9/97).