STATE OF THE INDUSTRY: USA TODAY's Michael Hiestand
writes that the "mood wasn't buoyant" about the sports
merchandise industry at the Super Show. Porter Athletic
VP/Marketing Dan Morgan: "The boom years covered up a lot of
mismanagement. Some companies blindly expanded like it was
never going to end" (USA TODAY, 2/18).
NOTES: Starting tomorrow, 470 Chicago-area McDonald's
will offer paperback versions of Michael Jordan's "For the
Love of the Game" for $4.99 (CHICAGO TRIBUNE, 2/18).
....Sears plans to "cut prices on some basic apparel by
about 15%," shift its advertising campaign "to focus on
price," and "reduce its vendor base" by 15%. The reduction
in vendors is "meant partly to make room for in-store shops"
that Sears plans to introduce later this year, including an
ESPN shop (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 2/18).....CART Licensed
Products has licensed Sega to produce computer and video
games using CART's cars, teams and drivers (SPEEDNET, 2/13).
...CLC VP Bruce Siegal, after a number of rallies on college
campuses "urging stronger codes for factories" that make
apparel bearing school logos: "We only hope that the student
protests don't delay the process, which ultimately hurts the
workers. The idea ... [is] that if we could come up with a
singular code we could get this done faster and more
seamlessly" (USA TODAY, 2/17)....In UT, Rich Evans wrote
under the header, "Black Is Basic To NBA Marketing" and
examined the Jazz's new, alternative road jerseys. Jazz
VP/PR David Allred: "Some people may see it as being totally
for merchandise, but I don't know if that's necessarily
true. ... What we're hearing is all positive. People like
it. The stores are doing well" (DESERET NEWS, 2/14).
