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Levy Restaurants has rebranded its sports retail group as Rank + Rally and has signed the Nets and Golden Knights as its two newest clients. The company, formerly Levy Retail, now has 12 accounts at major league arenas, stadiums and Arlington Park horse track in suburban Chicago. All merchandise deals are at venues where Levy Restaurants operates food service. Erin Jones, hired in July as a Senior VP with about a dozen years of experience in retail apparel, will lead Rank + Rally out of Levy’s home office in Chicago. Online, Rank + Ralley runs e-commerce sites for the Warriors and Blues and is expanding that piece of the operation to include the Nets and Golden Knights, Jones said. For the Nets, Rank + Rally replaces Adidas, which ran the team store at Barclays Center since it opened in the fall of '12. The new vendor's three-year deal also covers Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, run by Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, which manages the Nets’ arena, plus seasonal pop-up stores at Coney Island and other sites in the borough. In addition to Nets games, Rank + Rally will sell merch for college basketball and boxing events at Barclays Center. The Nets will continue running merchandise for in-house concerts, said BS&E CEO Brett Yormark.
MONEY IN THE BANK: To drive more business and events to Brooklyn, Yormark said the agreement extends to suite hospitality at other arenas across the country where Levy Restaurants runs the food. The Nets’ comfort level and continuity with Levy already serving as their food provider and the retail group’s plan to work with Brooklyn designers to develop custom apparel sold exclusively at the Swag Shop, Barclays Center’s rebranded team store, was another factor in the decision, he said. In Las Vegas, Rank + Rally will expand and rebrand the Black Clover Shop, T-Mobile Arena’s team store named for the golf lifestyle brand and an arena founding partner. The new name will be tied to the Golden Knights, the NHL expansion team that begins play this fall at the facility, Jones said.
