Habs offer rebate to turn in fake jerseys

[LesNordiques]

Habs offer rebate to turn in fake jerseys

On chinanhljerseys.com Thursday, you could buy a “replithentic” Montreal Canadiens jersey with Scott Gomez’s name and No. 91 on it for only $86.

That same jersey, minus thecolourful adjective, was selling at the Habs Zone boutique at the Bell Centre Thursday for $239 or $399 – depending on whether you bought the official “replica” Gomez jersey or the more expensive official “authentic” one.

The large gap in prices between illegal knockoffs and the two grades of official sweaters manufactured under National Hockey League licence have become a concern to the NHL – and to the iconic Canadiens in particular.

This week, the Canadiens became the first team in the league to start offering fans rebates on official licensed sweaters if they come into Habs Zone and relinquish their counterfeit jerseys.

The offer is good only at Habs Zone at the Bell Centre, not from any other authorized dealer.

The club is offering a $100 rebate on authentic sweaters just like those worn by players during games, and $50 for look-alike replica sweaters that don’t have the same high degree of water repellency.

Authentic sweaters were selling at Habs Zone yesterday for $299, replica jerseys for $139. Buyers pay an extra $100 to have nameplates and numbers sewn on.

So far, public response to the rebate offer has been weak. But the Canadiens are hoping that the anti-knockoff ads that they took out this week in major Montreal newspapers, and on the scoreboard at the Bell Centre during Game 4 Wednesday of the Washington series, will at least raise public awareness about knockoffs, which violate copyright law.

Donald Beauchamp, a Canadiens official, said in an interview yesterday that the advertising campaign is the outcome of a year of consultations between the club, the NHL, jersey licensee Reebok and the RCMP on the subject of knockoffs.

He said the club has no idea how much money it is losing to knockoffs, but it can tell from what people are wearing that knockoffs are fairly common.

The Canadiens have created a new URL link – letsretirethesejerseys.com – to show fans how to tell the difference between licensed products and knockoffs.

Among other things, the lettering on the nameplates tends to be thicker on the knockoffs than it is on the licensed sweaters.

At Habs Zone and other authorized vendors of licensed Canadiens sweaters, 25 per cent of all club sweaters sold are authentic jerseys, as opposed to 75 per cent that are replica jerseys.

Authentic sweaters for all 30 NHL teams are produced by Reebok in St. Hyacinthe, southeast of Montreal.

Replica jerseys, made by Reebok in Indonesia, aren’t made from the same expensive high-wick material.

While Habs Zone was selling replica sweaters yesterday for $139, Souvenirs Super Sports, on Ste. Catherine St. between Peel and Stanley Sts., was selling the same licensed replica sweater for $129.

Nour Nury, co-owner of Souvenir Super Sports, said he’s heard knockoffs are sometimes peddled right out in the open in the parking lots surrounding the Bell Centre. Beauchamp simply said they are being sold “everywhere.”

Story

[Thelonious Sphere Monk]

Habs offer rebate to turn in fake jerseys

On chinanhljerseys.com Thursday, you could buy a “replithentic” Montreal Canadiens jersey with Scott Gomez’s name and No. 91 on it for only $86.

That same jersey, minus thecolourful adjective, was selling at the Habs Zone boutique at the Bell Centre Thursday for $239 or $399 – depending on whether you bought the official “replica” Gomez jersey or the more expensive official “authentic” one.

The large gap in prices between illegal knockoffs and the two grades of official sweaters manufactured under National Hockey League licence have become a concern to the NHL – and to the iconic Canadiens in particular.

This week, the Canadiens became the first team in the league to start offering fans rebates on official licensed sweaters if they come into Habs Zone and relinquish their counterfeit jerseys.

The offer is good only at Habs Zone at the Bell Centre, not from any other authorized dealer.

The club is offering a $100 rebate on authentic sweaters just like those worn by players during games, and $50 for look-alike replica sweaters that don’t have the same high degree of water repellency.

Authentic sweaters were selling at Habs Zone yesterday for $299, replica jerseys for $139. Buyers pay an extra $100 to have nameplates and numbers sewn on.

So far, public response to the rebate offer has been weak. But the Canadiens are hoping that the anti-knockoff ads that they took out this week in major Montreal newspapers, and on the scoreboard at the Bell Centre during Game 4 Wednesday of the Washington series, will at least raise public awareness about knockoffs, which violate copyright law.

Donald Beauchamp, a Canadiens official, said in an interview yesterday that the advertising campaign is the outcome of a year of consultations between the club, the NHL, jersey licensee Reebok and the RCMP on the subject of knockoffs.

He said the club has no idea how much money it is losing to knockoffs, but it can tell from what people are wearing that knockoffs are fairly common.

The Canadiens have created a new URL link – letsretirethesejerseys.com – to show fans how to tell the difference between licensed products and knockoffs.

Among other things, the lettering on the nameplates tends to be thicker on the knockoffs than it is on the licensed sweaters.

At Habs Zone and other authorized vendors of licensed Canadiens sweaters, 25 per cent of all club sweaters sold are authentic jerseys, as opposed to 75 per cent that are replica jerseys.

Authentic sweaters for all 30 NHL teams are produced by Reebok in St. Hyacinthe, southeast of Montreal.

Replica jerseys, made by Reebok in Indonesia, aren’t made from the same expensive high-wick material.

While Habs Zone was selling replica sweaters yesterday for $139, Souvenirs Super Sports, on Ste. Catherine St. between Peel and Stanley Sts., was selling the same licensed replica sweater for $129.

Nour Nury, co-owner of Souvenir Super Sports, said he’s heard knockoffs are sometimes peddled right out in the open in the parking lots surrounding the Bell Centre. Beauchamp simply said they are being sold “everywhere.”

Story

this is old news around here my friend.

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