by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Much of the attention regarding today’s Konica Minolta Gator Bowl game will be on Florida State head coach Bobby Bowden who is coaching his last game. But while fans look to the sideline to catch a glimpse of the legendary coach on the sidelines one last time, they won’t have to look far to see him around — much to the delight of two Downtown merchants.
Merchandise featuring Bowden’s likeness, congratulations and messages of thanks have been hot-ticket items, said Droop Wilt, manager of Sports Mania at the Landing.
“There’s been a big request, a big demand,” said Wilt. “We had eight different styles of shirts but quickly sold out of three.”
Sports Mania General Manager Terry Trinidad echoed Wilt’s sentiment on the demand and said the store sold more than 1,000 shirts during the early part of the week — enough to require five reorders. By the time the game is over, he anticipates more than 2,000 shirts off the racks.
“People are snatching them up because they want something to remember Bowden’s last game by,” said Trinidad.
Wilt said that besides the shirts, pins going for $2 have been selling well, with even family members of the teams stopping in for purchase — including the wife of one prominent FSU coach who purchased several of them Wednesday morning.
Several stores over from Sports Mania, one local company has set up shop temporarily and has seen ringing registers, too.
Besides renting space for the week, Prime Time had a presence at two area hotels selling merchandise, but they couldn’t open their Landing location doors soon enough.
“We opened at 9:45 a.m. (Tuesday) and had four people standing outside waiting,” said sales associate Brooke Sterner. “It’s been busy.”
They don’t expect to run into trouble selling out — they have a moving truck full of additional equipment, said associate Kyle Bright, and will be in the game’s merchandise business until its conclusion.
The group has a couple unique commemorative shirts with Bowden’s likeness as well as pins and other assorted Bowden collectibles that are selling well. And, it’s not just the Florida State faithful making the purchases.
“We’ve had a lot of West Virginia fans buying Bowden merchandise,” said Sterner. “I think everyone wants something to take home with them.”
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