Sochi will sell more than 100,00 tickets for test events ahead of the upcoming 2014 Winter Olympics, according to XINHUA. Sochi is expected to hold "some 60 test events" ahead of the Olympics. In the '12-13 winter, a series of test competitions will be held in the Olympics venues. Major events, "including the Grand Prix finals of figure skating in December, biathlon World Cup in March" and the U18 Ice Hockey World Championship in April will require tickets. The rest of the events will either be closed door or free of entrance (XINHUA, 11/14). Meanwhile, the Sochi 2014 official retail sales operator, Sportmaster, has begun sales of products featuring the Olympic and Paralympic logo for the Games. More than 250 departments containing official Sochi 2014 products have opened in the company's stores in 122 cities throughout the country. The departments will house a wide range of licensed products for the Games including souvenirs, stationery and other licensed merchandise, a first for any Winter Games. Additionally, in the official Sochi 2014 merchandise departments, customers will be able to browse among official products bearing the Games logo: sleds, skis, snowboards, skates, ice-hockey sticks, pucks, balls and other sporting equipment. For the first time in Sportmaster's superstores -- Sochi 2014 mascots, stationery, badges, children's toys, arts and crafts products, exercise books and more will be available. By the time the Sochi Games begin, more than 5,000 product lines of licensed merchandise are going to be launched, and the majority will be put on sale in the official Sochi 2014 merchandise departments in the Sportmaster retail network (Sochi 2014).
