By Kameel Stanley, Times Staff Writer
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Cindy O’Donoghue restocks the new Tampa Bay Rays American League East Champion shirts at Authentic Team Merchandise, better known as Bucs, Bull, Bolts and Rays Heaven, in Tampa on Tuesday. “It’s Rays fever,” said owner Jeffery Neil Fox.
As the Tampa Bay Rays prepare for today's first playoff game, local fans have been gearing up for the event — literally.
Area stores report a surge in business as people rush to scoop up Rays merchandise.
"It's been unbelievable," said Jeffery Neil Fox, owner of Bucs, Bull, Bolts and Rays Heaven in Tampa. "It's Rays fever."
During the team's 2008 postseason run, Fox said Rays T-shirts and hats made up 20 percent of the store's daily revenue.
"It might be even more (this year)," he said Tuesday. "I've been feeling the buzz a lot more."
Fox said the dynamics have changed this time around. The team has been around longer, and fans seem to have become more endeared.
Even those who aren't going to the game are loading up on novelty items like hats and car flags, he said. The big seller thus far is the official clubhouse T-shirt, which debuted Monday. It's gray and features an image of a stadium in the background.
Robert Neighbor, a manager at Sports Authority in St. Petersburg, said it took less than 24 hours for the store to run out of its first shipment of playoff T-shirts that arrived Monday.
"We got over 180 units and we already sold out," he said Tuesday. "We've still got people coming in."
Neighbor said he expects to get more, but they probably won't be around long.
"There's a lot of people looking for playoff stuff," he said.
Manufacturer Wayne Curtiss, who owns Smack Apparel in Tampa, makes unlicensed sports T-shirts with catchy designs and phrases.
One shirt — available at Publix — takes a jab at the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox and says "Beast of the East 2010" in front and "Less Payroll Better Team" in back.
The other is blue and plays off the team's plaid theme this year. It reads "All the way Tampa Bay."
Those will be available at Sports Fan-Attic stores.
"It looks like you're wearing a plaid jacket," Curtiss said. "It's just a fun, fun shirt. We should sell thousands."