Race souvenir sales 'on target' in Bristol

BRISTOL, Tenn. – Race souvenir sales might be down all over the country, but Bristol is an exception, said Chris Williams, vice president of trackside sales for Motorsports Authentics.

The company, which takes 40 licensed merchandise trailers to races around the country, is seeing better overall sales this year than last, Williams said. Sales are off 15 percent to 17 percent this year, he said; last year they were off 35 percent.

But in Bristol, he said, sales are right on target.

On Saturday, he was more worried about the potential effect of the rain than that of the economy.

“Bristol is such a unique individual. Bristol has so much history,” Williams said, before describing the wrecks, bumps and spins that  fans find exciting on the half-mile track.. “You can go see some things [at Bristol] than you don’t normally see.”

Besides Bristol, he said, only Las Vegas, Daytona and Texas have been seeing normal amounts of souvenir sales.

“They want stuff that says Bristol,” said Michelle Harbaugh, who was manning a souvenir stand at the speedway for the Fairmount Elementary School PTA. “The hottest items have been what we call the event shirts, the ones that have the date and ‘The 100th race at Bristol.’ ”

Melissa Ledbetter, another PTA volunteer, blamed the rain for slow sales early Saturday afternoon, as did Margaret Puglisi, who was selling seat cushions. Local souvenir vendors on the other side of Volunteer Parkway, including Chad Fuller, said rain-induced flooding had kept some customers away.

But as soon as the sun came out, so did the throngs of shoppers, who lined up several deep along the rows of souvenir booths.

Some fans, including Erin Smith of Colorado Springs, Colo., said they had cut back this year on souvenir purchases for financial reasons.

“I’m back here trying to find the cheapest shirt that I can find,” said Smith, who recently lost her job as a package delivery driver. “Instead of buying the $50 [die-cast] cars, we’re buying $6 pins.”

Still, money didn’t stop her and her husband from traveling across the country for the race, for which they’d bought tickets a year in advance.

Joan Wilder, who was selling die-cast cars Saturday, said that even with a poor economy, sales are better this year than they’ve been the past two.

“Race people, they come out and spend money whether they have it or not,” said Wilder, who was working the souvenir booth to raise money for a senior center athletic club. “Race fans have a way of finding the money they need to go to the races and buy their souvenirs.”

Terry Russell, visiting Bristol from Florida for the first time with his 80-year-old father and 24-year-old son, has another take on the steady souvenir sales.

He said white-collar guys like him haven’t been so affected by the economy that they can’t buy souvenirs if they want to, and they continue to spend the $1,000 it takes to travel, stay and attend a NASCAR event.

Selling souvenirs, Harbaugh said most of her customers were “committed fans” and were buying two or three things instead of just one.

“If they’re going to spend that much money on gas, on hotels or camping, and on tickets, they’re not going to shy away from $20 for a hat,” Harbaugh said.

A lifelong race fan, Russell said he remembers when auto racing was a blue-collar sport, but as ticket prices have risen in recent years, he said, “They priced a lot of the loyal, diehard people out of it.”

So when the Great Recession hit, it was a double-whammy for race fans: Higher ticket prices combined with lower incomes have kept many people away.

“This is the most empty seats in race tracks I’ve seen since I’ve been going,” Russell said.

Williams said NASCAR has been doing a lot since the recession hit, with special promotions and package deals to make tickets more affordable.

A lot more free events also take place around the track, he said, adding to the experience and to the opportunity to draw new fans.

As ticket prices have come down, he said, so have some souvenir prices, and instead of selling $25 T-shirts, vendors are selling $15 to $20 shirts.

“I think it’s going to take a little time for the economy in the United States to change. There’s a lot of people out of work,” Williams said. “But NASCAR is doing all the right stuff right now.”

dmccown@bristolnews.com | (276) 791-0701