My boat is a canoe, no upholstery to deal with there.
My Koi and the bass and bream in our big pond have been feeding for two weeks.
The Adidas jerseys are great quality, especially when you put them up next to the Fanatics ones.
You can't compare the existing
The actual on ice apparel won't change. It'll still be made in the same factory by the same people, they're just changing the logo they're putting on the back and the design templates.
No doubt their fan merchandise is poor quality, but they have been the main retailer for that stuff already. So what's changing? Higher quality stuff, like the things you would find on Carolina proshop should continue to exist. They aren't the exclusive rights holder to all things licensed NHL.The actual on ice apparel won't change. It'll still be made in the same factory by the same people, they're just changing the logo they're putting on the back and the design templates.
Where the impact is going to be felt will be the fans with merchandise sales. Their quality is abysmal. Hats, sweatshirts, tshirts, etc. Everything I've owned from Fanatics is cheaply made thin garbage that falls apart almost immediately. And on top of that, there's massive inconsistency in sizing and horrible quality control in making sure you're actually sent what you order.
I mean shit, I saw this for sale at KOHL's a month or so ago (this isn't my image, but I saw the same shirts at a different store)....
The worrisome part to me is that Fanatics put out a slightly upgraded version of their Breakaways at near Adidas prices for the Stadium Series game, and the quality was still far worse than the 'authentics'. I am absolutely expecting inflated prices for inferior products going forward now that Fanatics is in charge of all of it.
That's the point though, it likely won't, at least when it comes to jerseys. Carolina Pro Shop can only stock what the league suppliers make. The on ice stuff for the players will be good quality, but it's always been near impossible for fans to get those outside of gamers, so who cares? Adidas actually made the authentics cheaper and extremely close to what players wear, just made overseas rather than in Canada. Under Fanatics, the quality of the the higher end jerseys available to fans will almost certainly take a massive nosedive, and the only way to get a jersey that isn't garbage will be to get a gamer. Which is always extremely expensive.
I'm sure it will depend on what the actual product is. If Fanatics hears the concerns and steps up their game, the sales will be fine. If, as I expect, they try to charge $200+ for something barely better than what they're offering now, a lot of fans will flinch at that.
The actual on ice apparel won't change. It'll still be made in the same factory by the same people, they're just changing the logo they're putting on the back and the design templates.
Where the impact is going to be felt will be the fans with merchandise sales. Their quality is abysmal. Hats, sweatshirts, tshirts, etc. Everything I've owned from Fanatics is cheaply made thin garbage that falls apart almost immediately. And on top of that, there's massive inconsistency in sizing and horrible quality control in making sure you're actually sent what you order.
I mean shit, I saw this for sale at KOHL's a month or so ago (this isn't my image, but I saw the same shirts at a different store)....
