Olympic commercial glory: ‘Reminds me of Black Friday sales’

PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA » All Amber Batchelder wanted was a postcard.

There were plush mascots. T-shirts. Even an Olympic-branded tea set for $230. But nowhere in this popup city, where everybody seems to be selling something, could she find a few postcards to send to friends.

Visitors to the 2018 Winter Olympics may remember many things. The extreme cold during week one. The North Koreans participating. Russians here but not under their own flag. And then there is the odd mix of souvenirs and the enormous lines to buy them.

Some days, it seemed fans were more excited about the two giant, tented “superstore” gift shops than they were about the actual games. Now, as they pack up and start heading home, many might find they need a little extra room in their suitcases.

“It’s like going to Disney World. You always want something,” said Marc Pelini, an Olympic spectator who is in the U.S. Army and stationed at a military base in Suwon, South Korea.

His family waited 30 minutes just to enter the store. Inside, shoppers grabbed oversized blue sacks — large enough to make IKEA start worrying — and jostled their way from bin to bin scooping up gifts for everyone.

“It’s madness,” Pelini said. “It reminds me of Black Friday sales.”

The two stores saw a combined 46,000 visitors a day during last week’s Lunar New Year long weekend, up from 25,000 visitors a day during the rest of the Olympics, according to the game organizers. They did not release sales statistics, but almost everybody leaving the stores had multiple items in their bags. Many had multiple bags.

Some fans, intimidated by the snaking lines, bought gifts from smaller concession stands with a limited selection.

“I would have bought more but the lines were too long,” said Courtney Lemoine of Boston. “Our biggest fear is that we’re going to have to buy stuff at the airport.”

Had she made it inside, Lemoine would have found Olympic-branded selfie sticks for $9, toiletry kits for $22, chopsticks for $41 and crystal Olympic torches with LED lights for $65.

If none of those items bring shoppers close enough to the action, they could spend $18 on three round soaps with bronze, silver and gold medals inside. As they bathe themselves, they get closer and closer to having their very own keepsake medal.

(Fans watching at home, fear not: Many Olympic keepsakes are already being resold on eBay.)

The Olympics bring together the best athletes in world. And attract the world’s biggest corporations. As fans from Russia, Norway, Japan and Canada mingle, they are constantly reminded which beverages they can drink. Or that only one type of credit card is accepted.

Before reaching any of the ice venues, they must pass through a gauntlet of corporate pavilions, many with their own lengthy lines just to check out the latest cell phone or newest-model car. The pavilions themselves have become attractions; one near the Olympic torch sells itself as the darkest building on the planet. It’s become a key stop on the photo tour of the Olympics.

While the gift shop wants you to open your wallet today, these pavilions hope to empty it six months from now.

Mike Binder and his wife, Carolina Barbosa, started planning their Olympic journey four years ago. She’s a big figure-skating fan. The New York couple had been given a long list of gifts to bring home for friends.