Brilliant! Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 I had to drop my car off at Sears Auto on Saturday because of a dead battery. So, I decided that since it's connected to the mall, I'd take a little walk-through and see what they got. Well, I started at a sports memorabilia store, asked the guy behind the counter if they had any Reebok EDGE jerseys and he looked at me like I had two heads. "You mean the authentic jerseys?" I said, "Yes. They're called the EDGE system." He responded, "No, we don't have any of those. They're too expensive." I turned around and left. Next stop was a Champs Sports store on the other side of the mall. I asked the first person I saw as I walked in...who happened to be a VERY cute girl...if they had any of the authentics. She said, "No, we only carry the replicas." There was a guy walking by with his little girl and he says to me, "Oh don't bother getting the authentics. I bought a Scott Gomez authentic jersey off of NHL.com and they ripped me off. I paid over 320 bucks for that thing! You're better off just getting the replica because it's all the same thing." I had to laugh at that. I said, "Well, I collect authentics, so that's what I'm looking for." Strike two! Finally, I checked out another memorabilia-type store. As soon as I walk in, I see Rangers' jerseys on the front rack..only they're mesh jerseys. I ran over to the rack thinking I'd hit the jackpot but when I looked closer, it was a rack FILLED with those fake Gretzky Starter knock-offs. The guy had at least 15 of them. I literally laughed out loud. I asked the guy behind the counter where he got them from and he said from one of his suppliers. Then I told him he had a rackful of fake jerseys. He said, "What? How do you know?" So I explained all the little details to him and he got pretty mad. "I can't wait to see my distributor again. I'm gonna cram these down his throat!" He was very grateful to get the info though. I talked to him for about ten minutes and explained to him how easy it is to spot the fakes so he wouldn't fall for it again. He asked for my business card so he could call me next time he got a delivery in just in case. I got a kick out of that but I gladly gave him one. Anything I can do to help! So I guess the moral is don't go to the mall to look for authentic jerseys since everyone there seems to be a dunce when it comes to their merchandise. Oh well. At least I got some exercise out of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devilsfan26 Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 Was this by any chance Woodbridge Center mall? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBLightningFan Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 We've got a sports store in our mall here in St. Pete, FL, just a short drive from Tampa, home of the Lightning, and they only carry replicas and practice jerseys. Nothing authentic, at least for the NHL. Now, if you want a basketball or football jersey, they'll trip over themselves trying to sell you an authentic. Sorry boss, I'm only buying NHL. The worst thing is, we've got the "International Mall" across the bay IN Tampa, home to many high ticket stores like Tiffany's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstroms, a couple high price purse stores and the like, but even there the sports stores only carry replica hockey jerseys. In "Hockey Bay, USA" no less. To take the cake, even at the St. Pete Times Forum, HOME OF THE LIGHTNING, you can't buy an authentic. You can get your replica customized in tackle twill (why?), but they don't carry authentics. I don't get it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZoomZoom18 Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 We've got a sports store in our mall here in St. Pete, FL, just a short drive from Tampa, home of the Lightning, and they only carry replicas and practice jerseys. Nothing authentic, at least for the NHL. Now, if you want a basketball or football jersey, they'll trip over themselves trying to sell you an authentic. Sorry boss, I'm only buying NHL. The worst thing is, we've got the "International Mall" across the bay IN Tampa, home to many high ticket stores like Tiffany's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstroms, a couple high price purse stores and the like, but even there the sports stores only carry replica hockey jerseys. In "Hockey Bay, USA" no less. To take the cake, even at the St. Pete Times Forum, HOME OF THE LIGHTNING, you can't buy an authentic. You can get your replica customized in tackle twill (why?), but they don't carry authentics. I don't get it. Just Sports by Westgate and Jobing.com Arena is the only place I've seen authentic Coyotes jerseys as well as a handful of Edge replicas from about a dozen teams. Other than that, you see replicas everywhere, but no authentics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rabinsurance Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 I used to go to Toronto a couple of times a year and it used to be easy to find authentics. The Spirit of Hockey store at the HOF used to carry just about every team. When Starter went under, they had great prices on the remaining stock, same with Pro Players. Over the years, their inventory has mostly become replicas. There are about 4-5 stores in a few blocks of Yonge Street. RCS had a store in the Eaton Centre, which has since closed. At that time the US-Canadian exchange rate was much more favorable to Americans, not like now. You can easily find replicas, but authentics have become a little tougher to find at retail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnothaVictim Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 We've got a sports store in our mall here in St. Pete, FL, just a short drive from Tampa, home of the Lightning, and they only carry replicas and practice jerseys. Nothing authentic, at least for the NHL. Now, if you want a basketball or football jersey, they'll trip over themselves trying to sell you an authentic. Sorry boss, I'm only buying NHL. The worst thing is, we've got the "International Mall" across the bay IN Tampa, home to many high ticket stores like Tiffany's, Neiman Marcus, Nordstroms, a couple high price purse stores and the like, but even there the sports stores only carry replica hockey jerseys. In "Hockey Bay, USA" no less. To take the cake, even at the St. Pete Times Forum, HOME OF THE LIGHTNING, you can't buy an authentic. You can get your replica customized in tackle twill (why?), but they don't carry authentics. I don't get it. I don't know if it's still there. The Sports Fan-Attic, but I don't remember if it was Clearwater Mall or Countryside Mall. I also found authentics at the Sports Authority in St. Pete(?), it was a pretty huge, more like a warehouse looking building. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SabreFaninNYC Posted January 8, 2008 Report Share Posted January 8, 2008 I used to go to Toronto a couple of times a year and it used to be easy to find authentics. The Spirit of Hockey store at the HOF used to carry just about every team. When Starter went under, they had great prices on the remaining stock, same with Pro Players. Over the years, their inventory has mostly become replicas. There are about 4-5 stores in a few blocks of Yonge Street. RCS had a store in the Eaton Centre, which has since closed. At that time the US-Canadian exchange rate was much more favorable to Americans, not like now. You can easily find replicas, but authentics have become a little tougher to find at retail. Well I think that is the thing, where you market is makes a big difference. Whenever I go to Canada I can't help but trip over hockey stuff (including authentics) but if I want anything other than the low end hockey gear when shopping (say in New Jersey) then I have to go to the actual arena of the team to get the real deal. Good thing for the internet! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBLightningFan Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I don't know if it's still there. The Sports Fan-Attic, but I don't remember if it was Clearwater Mall or Countryside Mall. I also found authentics at the Sports Authority in St. Pete(?), it was a pretty huge, more like a warehouse looking building. I live a few minutes down the road from Sports Authority here in St. Pete. Last time I was in there (a few weeks ago), they didn't have anything but replicas. They sometimes have older authentics, the CCM 6100 series, but never the new Edges. Ditto on the Sports fanatic. There's one here at the Tyrone Mall, plus one in Countryside and Westshore. They carry the edge replicas, but not the authentics. Sometimes you can find the older authentics on clearance (look for them near the sad looking old logo Devil Rays stuff!). I have (finally) spotted ONE other authentic Edge at a Lightning game (I've missed 2 home games this season, feel bad for me =) ). The guy wearing it was a few rows in front of me, in the 200$+ seats,, in a Lecavalier authentic. I didn't get a chance to talk to him so I don't know where he got his, maybe right here at IJ. I have seen some interesting premier replicas this season though, including a group of women who wear replica St. Louis's with his name and number on the back in a really tiny font, not sure what's up with that. It's almost comical looking, though, I should get pictures. It's like their jerseys say "we wanna support #26, but we don't wanna make a scene about it...." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lafountain Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 Sadly where I live, the Boise Towne Square Mall doesn't have any stores that carry the new jerseys at all. Pro Image used to carry the previous replica style back when I first got here but it was pretty much the Avalanche and Red Wings. Since the new style came out, there isn't a single place that I can find that carries them in stock. At Idaho Steelhead games all I can get are Steelhead jerseys. There is one fan that I see at the games that has an Ovechkin white jersey, not sure if it is replica or authentic, as he sits on the opposite side of the arena as me but I noticed the jersey the last couple of times I went to the game as during intermissions and during pre-game I tend to scan the crowd to see what people are wearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustAnothaVictim Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 I live a few minutes down the road from Sports Authority here in St. Pete. Last time I was in there (a few weeks ago), they didn't have anything but replicas. They sometimes have older authentics, the CCM 6100 series, but never the new Edges. Ditto on the Sports fanatic. There's one here at the Tyrone Mall, plus one in Countryside and Westshore. They carry the edge replicas, but not the authentics. Sometimes you can find the older authentics on clearance (look for them near the sad looking old logo Devil Rays stuff!). Too bad I'm not in Clearwater anymore. Have you contacted Lizard Sports for sewing jobs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake_of_fire Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 My girlfriend bought me an Authentic EDGE Habs red jersey for christmas. So she went to a sport expert to see if they had authentics jerseys. The store is more specialised in sport equipement so they don't have much sport jerseys and they only have replicas. But the guy, rather than telling her that they don't sell authentics, tried to convince hey that it was an authentic and it was the same thing that the players wear on the ice. There is also another store called la capsule sportive that sells last year replicas for 200$. Moral of the story: A least your stores don't try to swindle you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 My girlfriend bought me an Authentic EDGE Habs red jersey for christmas. So she went to a sport expert to see if they had authentics jerseys. The store is more specialised in sport equipement so they don't have much sport jerseys and they only have replicas. But the guy, rather than telling her that they don't sell authentics, tried to convince hey that it was an authentic and it was the same thing that the players wear on the ice.There is also another store called la capsule sportive that sells last year replicas for 200$. Moral of the story: A least your stores don't try to swindle you. Fairview centre? I had an issue with capsule sportive last year, well actually, with their manager. He was selling a thrashers jersey (the old blue one that they stopped wearing and replaced by their baby blue one). When I told him innocently that weren't wearing that jersey anymore. He told me that he owned the store and therefore he knew better than me that kind of stuff, he was convinced that they were still wearing it. He even offered to bet. Worse, he told me he watches sportscentre everyday (if he had, he would've noticed they weren't wearing it anymore so I knew for a fact he was lying to me). So I accepted the bet since I KNEW FOR A FACT THAT THEY WEREN'T WEARING IT ANYMORE. Next saturday I come back with articles (tsn.ca etc) saying that they were dropping that jersey. He refused to give me my 50$ (bet), I told him, in front of all the customers that he wasn't an honest person, that he didn't know anything about jerseys and that he lost my business forever. Sorry my English is bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 Fairview centre? I had an issue with capsule sportive last year, well actually, with their manager. He was selling a thrashers jersey (the old blue one that they stopped wearing and replaced by their baby blue one). When I told him innocently that weren't wearing that jersey anymore. He told me that he owned the store and therefore he knew better than me that kind of stuff, he was convinced that they were still wearing it. He even offered to bet. Worse, he told me he watches sportscentre everyday (if he had, he would've noticed they weren't wearing it anymore so I knew for a fact he was lying to me). So I accepted the bet since I KNEW FOR A FACT THAT THEY WEREN'T WEARING IT ANYMORE. Next saturday I come back with articles (tsn.ca etc) saying that they were dropping that jersey. He refused to give me my 50$ (bet), I told him, in front of all the customers that he wasn't an honest person, that he didn't know anything about jerseys and that he lost my business forever. Sorry my English is bad. Your English is just fine! I understood you perfectly -- too bad that guy was a jerk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philly88 Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 La Capsule Sportive sells the new RBK Edge at $320 + taxes then the customization is $120 on top of that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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