Demand for Royals gear outpacing supply, local retailers say

Local merchants of sports apparel are liking the Kansas City Royals’ run to the American League Championship Series.

They said it’s providing a nice bump in sales at a time when business typically slows.

Officials from Sports Time Fan Shop and Tad’s Locker Room said Monday they’ve seen brisk business because of the Royals’ postseason journey.

“It hit about five days ago and business … it’s up probably 25 to 30 percent from this time last October,” said Tad Snarenberger, owner of Tad’s Locker Room at 9747 E. 21st. “It’s not quite like March Madness, but (if the Royals make it to the World Series) it’s going to be there.”

If only they could get all the Royals gear that customers want.

Sports Time Fan Shop got a delivery of fresh Royals postseason T-shirts and hats early Monday afternoon. But the shipment didn’t include what Wichita resident Noemi Mattox said she wanted the most: the American League Division Series Championship T-shirt the Royals players wore Sunday night after sweeping the Los Angeles Angels in Kansas City.

“They didn’t have the one from last night,” Mattox said. “I asked the lady, and she said they’re coming tomorrow.”

“Royals stuff, it’s hard to keep in stock,” said Valerie Becker, manager of Sports Time Fan Shop at 2441 N. Maize. “A lot of our vendors … they’re trying to help us out with it. It’s a little slower than we’d like.”

Snarenberger said on Friday he learned that a shipment of Royals gear for his store was sitting on a dock in the Kansas City area. He said he didn’t want to wait, so he drove there and brought it back to have available for sale on Saturday.

“I think we had seven shirts left” after the store closed on Sunday, he said.

“I think the companies are all getting their ducks in a row, that they’ll be able to meet (demand).”

The problem is, Snarenberger said, when the Royals first started getting hot – then cold and hot again – in August, most of regular-season T-shirts, hats and other apparel had been produced months earlier.

“In years past, Royals gear has been so-so,” he said. And when stores like Snarenberger’s tried to order more of the regular-season items late in the season, “we started getting messages (from suppliers) that ‘we’re sold out, we don’t have anything left,’ ” he said.

“So we’ve had just bits and pieces of Royals (regular-season) gear.”

Becker said Sports Time Fan Shop has been ordering whatever Royals gear it can get. It doesn’t have to be a complete order of, say, T-shirts that would typically come in all sizes for men and women.

“Anything (Royals) that is out there, we bring in,” she said.

Becker and Snarenberger expect the availability of Royals postseason gear to quickly improve. They said vendors are working overtime to get shirts and hats manufactured and out to stores.

Snarenberger said it’s also clear to him that there are more companies producing the gear.

“The company I met on Friday … was brought into the fray because other companies couldn’t meet the demand,” he said.

Becker said Sports Time Fan Shop is expecting to receive its first shipment of the American League Division Series Championship T-shirts on Tuesday. Snarenberger said he expected Tad’s to get its order on Wednesday – maybe even Tuesday.

Even Hutchinson-based grocer Dillons is getting in on the Royals’ postseason stretch. Spokeswoman Sheila Lowrie said select Dillons stores – including in Wichita – will start carrying “a special T-shirt” on Wednesday marking the Royals’ October run.

“It’s kind of fun to see the Royals do this after so long,” Snarenberger said. “If they can take care of Baltimore (Orioles), there’s going to be baseball fever going on around here.”

This story was originally published October 6, 2014 at 11:22 AM with the headline "Demand for Royals gear outpacing supply, local retailers say."