Saints Super Bowl Merchandise Flying Off Shelves In Louisiana

Several Louisiana Retailers Garnering More Business Than Ever For Saints Gear

Saints fans yesterday were "clamoring like never before for Saints merchandise, anything they could get their hands on to show their support" of the team's Super Bowl victory, according to Brandon Richards of KPLC-NBC. The most popular items were the "official NFL championship shirts that fans bought hot off the presses Sunday night." L&G Concession vendor Jim Hicks, whose booth is located in Lake Charles, Louisiana, said, "I imagine we're going to be out here for the next three or four weeks. We'll keep getting shipments of new products in, things the fans are going to want." Lake Charles-based retailer The Perfect Gift Owner Carol Henry said that "anything with the Saints famous emblem is selling quickly." Similarly, C.J. Lejeume, who works at Brousse's A Child's World in Lake Charles, said, "This is the most popular week we've had for Saints merchandise" (KPLCTV.com, 2/8). In Louisiana, Jeff Matthews reports the Academy Sports & Outdoors store in Alexandria had a "special opening to start selling Super Bowl merchandise after the game, but some fans started lining up before it was even over." Academy Manager Dustin Puckett said that the store "sold out of their first shipment of Super Bowl merchandise in about three hours." Another shipment of shirts and caps arrived yesterday, and "two additional styles of shirts are expected to be available today" (Alexandria TOWN TALK, 2/9). Ed Billingsley, Manager of the Academy store in Shreveport, yesterday said, "We had our merchandise out 10 minutes after the game was over. We sold out last night and got another shipment (Monday) morning." He estimated that Academy "probably had close to 5,000 people in their parking lot throughout" Sunday night (SHREVEPORT TIMES, 2/9).

ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM? In Indianapolis, Dana Hunsinger reports pre-order sales for Saints Super Bowl merchandise was "quadruple that" of the Colts at the adidas Group plant in Indianapolis, which has the contract to "manufacture licensed gear for all NFL teams" on behalf of Reebok. The plant will "ship out 130,000 shirts a day, compared with a typical 65,000 to 70,000." Hunsinger: "It's a fact that the Saints sell. Maybe it's boy-next-door quarterback Drew Brees or the revival story of a city devastated by Hurricane Katrina." Regardless, "much of America wanted to see them win -- and buy their stuff" (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 2/9). adidas Sports Licensed Division VP/Operations Joe Cripe said that the number of shirts ordered for the Saints numbers in the "hundreds of thousands." Cripe expects that the Indianapolis plant will "be producing Saints gear nonstop at least until Friday, with rotating 12-hour shifts" (IBJ.com, 2/8).

DAT'S GREAT: Louisiana state Sen. A.G. Crowe yesterday said that he will "promote the concept of a new specialty vehicle license tag at the spring legislative session to honor" the Saints' Super Bowl win. Crowe said that "tentative plans for the plate's design will use the fleur-de-lis, the state seal and the phrase 'Who Dat Nation.'" He added that he plans to talk to NFL and Saints officials "about final designs to avert problems with copyright laws." Crowe indicated that a "share of the license tag fees would be donated to 'a worthy cause' designated by the Legislature in conjunction" with the Saints (New Orleans TIMES-PICAYUNE, 2/9).