The Team USA Store at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Calif., on Wednesday "rolled out a brand-new line of limited-edition merchandise for the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics," according to Katherine Poythress of the SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE. The new line features "an array of T-shirts, caps, can coolers and other merchandise from designers like Nike and Oakley." But Team USA Shop manager Nicole Thompson said that the "stars this year are 'Go USA' mittens designed to generate interest in the Winter Games, which typically are less popular than their summer counterparts." Thompson added, "The store did very well for the London Games, so hopefully we draw a lot of people this year again." USOC retail store operations manager Nicci Perri said that the shop, which has "only been open for a year and a half, does well in light of the relatively light tourism traffic at the Chula Vista training center." She declined to share revenue and traffic numbers, but said that the local store is "holding its own." It is "one of only two nationwide" operated by the USOC. The other is at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo. Perri said that the Colorado Springs shop "is the busier of the two ... largely because it is located right in the middle of the city." She added that both shops are "driven by tourism ... so their busiest months are the ones leading up to the Olympic Games" (SAN DIEGO UNION-TRIBUNE, 10/31).
