Raptors gear all the rage on eve of playoffs
It seems Raptors fans want to be well-dressed when their team begins the first round of the playoffs Saturday.
Official Toronto jerseys, t-shirts and hats have been flying off store shelves around the city, and unofficial gear is getting snapped up online.
Sales for Raptors merchandise at Real Sports Apparel have increased 50 per cent over the last five games compared to the rest of the regular season. Jerseys are leading sales, but t-shirts that celebrate the team’s Atlantic Division title have also become a hot commodity. The red shirts emblazoned with “Atlantic is Ours” have already sold out twice and were being replenished again Thursday.
Other stores have also noticed an uptick in interest.
“Sports Chek stores across the GTA have definitely seen a lot of consum- er interest in Raptors-branded merchandise since the team secured a playoff berth,” said John Harding, manager of the Eaton Centre store. “We’re huge Raptors’ fans and like all Torontonians are ecstatic to welcome playoff basketball back.” Unofficial Toronto gear is also selling fast. Two friends and super-fans who started creating Raptors-themed t-shirts last month have been overwhelmed with orders since the team made it into the playoffs. Andrew Kong was joking around when he sent his friend Jeff Cheng a simple t-shirt design featuring the names of the Raptors’ starting lineup.
“It’s the best team, basically, in franchise history. And we just wanted to give them a little shout out,” Cheng said of the design. The pair realized the shirts might actually sell, and came up with a few other designs, including a version of the line up shirt that includes Drake, the team’s global ambassador. They originally planned to print about 100 shirts under the label Since 95, a nod to the year the Raptors began. By Thursday afternoon, Since 95 had received more than 700 orders for shirts. Some big names have even picked up the threads. Amir Johnson, DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas all have the lineup shirts. “For us, we’re just fans, so it’s just crazy for us to see something we created on their bodies,” Cheng said.