The sports team merchandise tenant is trending, coinciding with the return of both professional and college sports games. Groups of friends can once again gather to watch and root for their favorite teams, which of course demands donning appropriate team attire. Wearing these sports logo items with others who share the same enthusiasm for a particular team creates a much-needed social camaraderie experience that had been lacking during the era of quarantines and shutdowns. For the male shopper, fashionable sports team-related clothing and headgear is now considered appropriate for many social situations, especially with comfort clothing attire continuing to be the norm. Many of these sports merchandise products are at an inexpensive price point, such as baseball caps or shot glasses, making them fun impulse buys for the most ardent of fans.
Look for sports merchandise tenants to appear in indoor regional malls, neighborhood power centers and outlet malls in primary and tertiary markets, in urban and suburban communities, and in street-front city-center locations, the latter usually in tourist-heavy spots. Preferred co-tenants include brands men gravitate to, whether tech-related gadget stores, sports apparel, fitness shoe stores or even sports bars. Look for Lids, Rally House and Pro Image Sports to have strong expansion plans.
Although the U.S. market is already heavily saturated with its branded stores, Lids still expects to open between 50 and 75 new stores per year over the next two years. Look for the brand to target growing regions with new mall construction in the works and popular tourist-driven areas. Markets targeted will include more mid-sized, secondary and tertiary markets near college towns where Lids either does not already have a presence, or has room to grow, such as Boise, Idaho, Nashville, Tenn., Sacramento, Calif., Oklahoma City, Detroit, Omaha, Neb., and Cheyenne, Wyo. Expect about 35 to 50 of those new stores to be in regional malls and power centers for the brand’s traditional inline unit, which is between 500 and 1,500 s.f., that primarily sell hats and caps with national team logos. About 10 to 25 of those new units will be for the brand’s larger, 2,500-s.f. “Locker Room” stores, which do well in inline or end cap urban street-front spaces in city centers, especially tourist-driven areas near sports stadiums. These Locker Room stores sell additional merchandise such as jersey apparel, signed pictures, pennants and banners. Preferred co-tenants include sports-related shoe brands such as Foot Locker and JD Sports.
Lids has benefited from its purchase by Ames Watson in 2018, as the private equity firm announced in January it had raised $250M, which will be used to further grow the brand’s national footprint. Also in January, Lids opened its largest store, a flagship 7,000-s.f. unit at the American Dream mall in East Rutherford, N.J. Lids sells all means of sports logo items, notably its caps, which are at cheaper price points. Its merchandise also can be customized with embroidery, including the signatures of famous sports players, thanks to Lids’ “embroidigraph” technology.
Rally House will be opening 40 new locations per year over the next four years, targeting college towns and metros in Dallas, as well in the Midwest, zeroing in on Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Omaha, Des Moines, Chicago, Indianapolis, Louisville, Ky., Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Ohio, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The specialty sports boutique looks for inline or end cap space that averages 6,000-s.f. in a wide variety of real estate options, including indoor regional shopping centers, power centers and lifestyle centers. Ideal co-tenants include casual-oriented apparel brands, such as Old Navy or Vans, and family-entertainment venues, such as Main Event. Close proximity to sports bars is also a plus. The ideal demographic of an area should have a large number of college-educated sports fans dedicated to their local teams. Rally House sells gifts, apparel and household décor items that feature teams’ official logos for all national professional sports and notable colleges. Each store also carries local-themed products that a particular region is known for.
Pro Image Sports will continue to open approximately 10 to 15 new franchise stores per year over the next two to three years. Growth will be centered on underserved markets in the Northwest, the West, the South and the Southwest. Expect to see new units popping up in Arizona, California’s Central Valley and San Diego regions, and tertiary markets within 100 miles outside of Seattle, Portland, Ore., Denver, Dallas and Houston. Ideal retail spaces include inline units in the 800- to 2,500-s.f. range in regional shopping centers, premium outdoor malls and outlet malls, especially near colleges or sports centers. Preferred co-tenants include other male-oriented or sports-oriented brands, such as Champs Sports or T-Mobile. Pro Image Sports sells apparel and novelty gift items featuring official licensed sports logos, including baseball caps, banners, shot glasses and thermoses. Its merchandise features new, fashionable apparel and cap designs/color schemes at least twice a month.
