There was another sign right by the front doors (and the up escalator) warning customers of the 3rd floor closure, taped to the escalator warning sign (I have to wonder why Sears was so scared of escalators!). Off to the right is a small alcove of Mariners products that honestly look like knockoffs -- I can't imagine Sears would actually sell knockoff products, but at the same time, they seem much more likely to do so than any other chain...
Back a decade ago or so, before things at Sears became really bad, I remember noticing that the quality of the NFL replica uniforms sold at Sears wasn't quite up to the quality of the stuff sold at sporting goods stores and other mall stores. I asked someone who was into sports memorabilia about this and they said that the Sears NFL stuff was authentic, but it was cheaper grade stuff made for discount stores rather than 'good' stores. I guess it was a case of Sears getting Kmart grade stuff! I'm not sure if that explains the Mariners stuff as it is probably Kmart grade stuff as well.
ReplyDeleteI was talking to a co-worker just this week about baseball and why it is so unappealing to follow baseball these days, especially the Houston Astros. We were talking about how before the MLB forced the Astros to move to the American League West, they were in the National League Central where their rivals were the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Milwaukee Brewers. All of those teams, except for Milwaukee, are old-time teams with lots of history. Now, the Astros rivals are the Texas Rangers, Seattle Mariners, Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (what a name!), and the Oakland Athletics (or wherever they play now, does anyone really know?). Those aren't exactly the nation's most favorite and historic teams, lol.
I told my co-worker that I don't think I've ever met a Seattle Mariners fan in my whole life and I've known people from Seattle! I know that back in the 1990s, there were some Ken Griffey Jr. and Randy Johnson fans, but I think those people were fans of those individual players and weren't really Mariners fans per se. I guess the same was true with Ichiro. Maybe the Mariners are really popular where you live, but I wouldn't be surprised if the Mariners merchandise at Sears is old stock and old stock not just because it is Sears, but also because they aren't exactly Seattle's most popular team! I wouldn't be surprised if the Seahawks, Kraken, and Huskies are all more popular than the Mariners.
Interesting! I had no idea there were multiple levels of quality for those products -- I always thought there was only the expensive stuff! I can't say I'm surprised Sears went for the low-end products.
DeleteThere are a decent number of Mariners fans around here (more than I would expect considering they're pretty bad and have always been pretty bad!), but they're definitely not the most popular team. Heck, judging by the sports-related clothing and merchandise I see out and about, the Supersonics may well be more popular than the Mariners, and they don't even exist currently! The Seahawks and the Kraken are definitely the most popular teams by that metric -- even though the Kraken are new and also aren't very good, they sure sell a lot of merchandise! (Though the fact that I live just a few blocks from their arena probably means that I see a lot more of it than I would in other neighborhoods...)