LIMA — As Cleveland Cavaliers took their victory lap through the streets of Cleveland on Wednesday with more than 1 million fans on hand, local stores in Lima were busy selling Cavs merchandise.
“Sales were picking up once they forced a Game 7. Now everybody is asking for it,” said Ty Shellenbarger, the owner of Lima Sports Collectibles in The Lima Mall.
T-shirts and hats were hot sellers, Shellenbarger said, adding he has championship shirts and a lot of other memorabilia on order including bumper stickers, bobble heads, pictures and key chains.
“The problem is a lot of stuff hasn’t come in yet. A lot of it will be coming in in the next few days to a week,” he said.
But the slight delay really is no problem. Winning a championship, especially in Cleveland, will make Cavs merchandise hot for the rest of the year, he said.
“I think Cavs stuff will sell hot for a while. Cleveland getting a championship is huge,” he said.
And jerseys of the Cavs star, LeBron James, are hot, too, he said.
MC Sports in The Lima Mall purposely placed its Cavs shirts, hats and other items in front of the main entrance to the store so people passing by could see it. Store manager Chris Gilbert said Cavs merchandise were hot items.
MC has the same championship shirts Cavs players put on immediately after winning the NBA title over the Golden State Warriors on Sunday night, he said.
MC has shirts, jerseys, hats and hoodies with other items on order.
“The shirts they wore in the locker room after winning the championship is the biggest seller,” Gilbert said.
Gilbert said he expects a busy couple of weeks similar to what he saw when Ohio State won the National Championship in college football.
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