Dimming hopes of a Canucks playoff run affecting merchandise sales
Posted March 14, 2016 7:57 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – With just 15 games to go, hopes of seeing the Vancouver Canucks in the playoffs this year are getting dimmer by the day.
We’re hearing the lacklustre season is taking a toll on at least one merchandise store downtown.
Sales of Canucks stuff at VanCity Sports are virtually non-existent, according to owner John Szvelka.
“We’re lucky we’re downtown and we have tourism where people do buy Canucks merchandise, but the locals are not too keen on jumping on the Canucks bandwagon at this time and sales have drastically decreased for sure,” says Szvelka.
He says sales have been going down since right after Christmas.
“We usually have a huge amount of Canucks merchandise. We have maybe six, seven different SKUs and that’s it… usually we have at least 12 to 18… We’ve got jerseys, a little bit of t-shirts, some hats, and a little bit of hoodies, and that’s it. We’re not prepared to sit on the merchandise, so we did cut back.”
Szvelka says he’s also cut back on how much he’s pre-ordered for next season.
He tells us last year was fairly steady, with a few more of the team’s products on the shelves. But, in general he’s feeling fairly optimistic about sales at his store throughout the spring.
“There’s a lot of stuff happening for us. We don’t really live off the local sports. There are the Euros coming for soccer, there is Team Canada/Mexico — that’s a huge one… We always prepare for events that are in the city or around that people do gravitate towards, so we’re optimistic. The cruise ship business starts soon, so we’re usually good with that. We’re looking forward to the spring and the summer.”
Svelka adds the Blue Jays will get a strong look — especially if the team gets off to a good start — and says that will help drive retail business.
