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Christmas is coming early to North Texas sporting goods stores. Texas Rangers merchandise is arriving and going out the door as fast as stores can stock it, especially the No. 53 Adolis García jersey.
García, the American League Champion Series MVP, is the most asked-for jersey, said Kristal Weil, store manager at the Rally House store in Arlington. “Corey Seager is also pretty popular too.” The Rangers slugger hit two home runs and had four hits in Monday night’s game seven victory over American League West rivals Houston Astros.
The store had a rush of shoppers this morning and last night after the game when a huge group showed up from Texas Live where they had been watching the Rangers beat the Houston Astros 11-4, Weil said. “People were buying arms full of t-shirts and hoodies.”
Official commemorative apparel isn’t cheap and maybe it’s worth shopping around. Those jerseys retail for $135 at Rally House and $150 at Academy Sports. The Fanatics men’s Rangers ALCS locker room short sleeve shirt retails for $40. Nike World Series Texas Rangers shirts retail for $45.
Academy Sports and Dick’s Sporting Goods reopened stores last night to meet demand from fans fresh off the win. Stores were stocked with the official Fanatics ALCS Champs locker room shirts that the Rangers wore.
Stores are now preparing for the start of the World Series on Friday at Globe Life Field. Hats were harder to come by last night but are arriving in stores. So are the tchotchkes, koozies and drinkware.
“We’ve been prepping for this since the Rangers started winning again,” Weil said. “Staff will be coming in to help us from corporate. Internally, we call it a hot market.”
North Texas JCPenney stores on Tuesday received the same t-shirts and hoodies.
Dallas-based True Brvnd sold out of its Texas Rangers upside-down hat that retails for $50, but its website says restocks are coming Wednesday.
The Grand Slam Team store at Globe Life Park has extended hours this week staying open two hours longer to close at 7 p.m. The store is open year-round and located in Lot B next to Texas Live.
Additional kiosks inside the stadium were already added for the division series and those will be open during the World Series, said Carmen Delgado, the Grand Slam’s retail supervisor. “We’ve been really busy. We have locker room t-shirts and hats and getting other merchandise tomorrow (Wednesday).”
Texas Rangers fans wait for the Grand Slam Team Store at Globe Life Field to open in Arlington on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023.
The instant market for merchandise is a major win for Fanatics which is making its branded merchandise and Nike’s World Series merchandise. Fanatics started out as an e-commerce company and now is building a betting and gaming business.
Other suppliers include Boston-based ‘47 Brand and Buffalo, N.Y.-based New Era Co. which is the exclusive baseball cap supplier for Major League Baseball. All are privately held companies.
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