Ahead of World Cup, cricket goods sell like hot cakes

The cricket World Cup is still a few weeks away but teens and children are already making a beeline for sports shops and other places in the city where World Cup merchandise is being sold. Big Bazaar, which has bagged the licence from the Internation Cricket Council (ICC) to be the authorised retailer of special merchandise for the month-long tournament, is seeing a number of fans at its outlets at the Express Avenue mall and in Pondy Bazaar.

Richard Martin, a youngster at one of the malls said, "I am here to buy the Indian team cap and jersey since all my friends have it!"

Big Bazaar is offering World Cup T-shirts, track pants, shorts, sweatshirts, caps, head bands, bed and bath linen products at prices in the range of Rs 199 to Rs 449.

The merchandise is in four ranges the first is for the true cricket lover and has the event logo as the central theme. The second is the graphic range built around cricket-inspired messages and graphics. The third is the Stumpy range, which revolves around the official mascot of the ICC CWC 2011. And the fourth is the true blue fan tee for the Indian team fan; also available are the fan tees for all other 13 countries.

Big Bazaar, which co-created its private label Sach (toothpaste and bathing bars) with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, is expecting a 10% growth in sales during the World Cup, a top company official said.

The merchandise is also being sold over the Internet as well as at match venues and hotels and airports in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. The headgear range is already seeing brisk sales. "Brisk online sales have been reported for both caps and sunhats," said a salesman in Pondy Bazaar.

"We have launched a wide range of merchandise in the past, right from cricket to Bollywood. But expectations from the latest range is much more as cricket is in the heart of every Indian and the tournament is happening in the subcontinent," said an official of the group.

"Through our vast offerings in apparel, home and personal care, we attempt to cement a strong relationship with our customers by enabling them to express their appreciation for cricket by sporting the fan look," said Sanjeev Agarwal, joint CEO of Big Bazaar.