Goodbye, souvenir haulers and hello to the trackside superstore
Goodbye, souvenir haulers. Hello, "Trackside Superstore."
Beginning with the Sprint Cup Series weekend at Pocono Raceway in August, a new era of at-track shopping will officially begin with the launch of a new trackside retail model that will eventually completely replace the traditional souvenir trailers so popular among fans for some two decades.
Although the souvenir haulers will still be around through the end of 2015, Pocono will mark the debut of the new superstore shopping experience in the form of a 60,000-square foot layout roughly the size of 1.5 football fields.
Contained within the superstore -- an enormous tent-style structure made up of two long sides, a centerpiece area and checkout piece at the end -- will be merchandise from 58 NASCAR drivers and 25 teams. Individual driver shops within the bigger facility will be 525 square feet, with room to expand.
Sixty centralized checkout stations for more simplified purchasing will accommodate up to 3,600 transactions per hour -- good news for fans accustomed to long lines and lengthy waits at souvenir haulers.
The new arrangement is part of a previously announced 10-year agreement between NASCAR and Fanatics, the world's largest online retail company, which will oversee the superstore experience all at tracks as it is phased in over the season's final months.
"The real goal for us is to learn everything we can and offer the best experience we can for the last portion of the '15 season but make '16 the real launching pad for what this model will look like when we go to Daytona for the 500 in February," Fanatics Authentic president Ross Tannenbaum said during a media briefing on Saturday at Sonoma Raceway.
Unlike the souvenir haulers, where fans can typically only point to a product they wish to buy before making a purchase, the superstore will offer consumers a chance to touch and closely examine a product such as a hat or T-shirt before actually buying it.
And unlike the haulers, where various kinds of merchandise are all lumped together in a tight space, the superstore will feature designated areas or "specialty shops," dedicated to diecasts, women's apparel, kids apparel, hats, key chains and more.
Altogether, each superstore will house $2.5 million in retail inventory and offer a 50-percent increase in product assortment for most drivers.
"I can tell you this: In dealing with every one of the tracks, every one of the teams, everyone within NASCAR, the vendors and everybody, they couldn't be more supportive," Tannenbaum said, adding that each track will get a share of the sales revenue from the superstore. "Everybody is trying to achieve the same goal which is to improve the retail experience for the fans at a NASCAR race -- understanding that for a long time people are used to one model and understanding that there will be some bumps along the way, but the way the whole industry has come together to get to where we are has really been exciting for us."
One of the most unique features of the superstore model will be a customization center, set to debut in late 2015, equipped with quick-turn printing facilities.
Want your name emblazoned on the hat of your favorite driver? Want a T-shirt commemorating your favorite driver's win in a race that just ended?
Fans will now be able to buy both before leaving the track.
In addition to the increased assortment of merchandise, the goal is for the superstore to eventually play host to various forms of entertainment including driver autograph signings and live TV broadcasts.
"I think that the winner in all of this is the fan, because the fan's going to have not just a better experience, but the fan is going to have opportunity for a different product that they currently don't have an opportunity to have, and to me that's going to be the game-changer," said Steve Phelps, NASCAR executive vice president and chief marketing officer.
"It's just a better opportunity to interact with the product and see it."
While Tannenbaum admits it will probably take some time for many fans to completely warm up to the superstore concept, he is confident it will happen once they realize all that it entails.
"We know there are people that are going to miss the haulers," he said. "We know they're unhappy the haulers are leaving, but when it comes to buying product, we're going to make it easier to buy, with a better selection with an easier checkout in a more controlled environment, which should make everybody happy at the end of the day. So we feel pretty good that the least of our problems is going to be the consumers and the fans going, 'We don't like this.'
"We have logistical issues we have to overcome to make this work well, but I don't see how the fans don't very quickly come around, all of them, and go, 'This is really awesome.'"
