Shopping is the other SB sport - Ingles

Countdown to SB XLV Kickoff
Friday, February 04 2011

Sure, the weather is scary and thousands of people still need to get here to watch championship football, but there’s another game that Dallas is really good at — and it’s not about to forfeit. This article was written by Maria Halkias and appeared in the Dallas Morning News.

Dallas shopping haunts are counting on fans, corporate sponsors, players and their entourages having time to shop till they drop the big bucks, so they’re mixing theater and complimentary spirits in with the racks.

Before the wicked weather hit, direct spending in Dallas was forecast to exceed $200 million for the first time in a Super Bowl host city. If so, Dallas would beat the peak of $195 million direct spending estimated in greater Miami during the pre-recession 2007 Super Bowl, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.

Unlike the storm that dropped a foot of snow on Dallas last year a couple days before the NBA All-Star Game and promptly melted, this stuff is staying around.

Stores and malls opened late and closed early on Wednesday. Still, retailers are optimists and aren’t canceling their big plans for the next four days.

Luxury is going all out: Designers are making personal appearances at NorthPark Center’s Barneys New York, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.

Stores are bringing in new and unique merchandise like thigh-high python-skin boots for $5,495 at Christian Louboutin and Jimmy Choo’s new travel bags that include a $4,995 leopard print carry-on, both at Highland Park Village.

Galleria Dallas general manager Angie Freed said expectations are high after many of the mall’s stores reported that sales were up 40 percent to 50 percent during last year’s NBA All-Star game. The mall is giving away commemorative tote bags with receipts totaling $250. It also put a big “XLV” on its ice rink to mark the occasion.

“We know a lot of people come with spouses or friends who aren’t going to the game. But they come to shop and enjoy a weekend away from home,” Freed said.

Nod to regulars

Locals aren’t being left out of the hoopla.

In fact, the best regular customers are getting invited along with out-of-towners to special events. NorthPark Center and Highland Park Village stores are hosting private parties for football wives and their best local customers, including one hosted by Pilar Sanders at Christian Louboutin.

When NorthPark’s Tiffany & Co. closed from 3 to 5 p.m. last week to unveil the Vince Lombardi Super Bowl XLV Trophy, NFL dignitaries and the jeweler’s best local customers were on the guest list.

“Customers are buying from our Super Bowl gift collection to present to their clients who are coming to town for the game. They get invited to our special events,” said store director Heather Pujats.

Plenty is happening in stores and at malls that doesn’t require an invitation — but some require purchases.

Irving Mall, North East Mall in Hurst and Firewheel Town Center in Garland are giving away goody bags filled with samples and coupons and are hosting contests.

Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders will be at Macy’s NorthPark on Saturday to distribute autographed photos to the first 250 customers who spend $25. At Macy’s in the Parks at Arlington, Def Jam recording artist Rick Ross will be taking photographs with customers who shop for Sean John apparel.

“I think the excitement is contagious and permeates throughout the rest of the community,” said Trudy Cresswell, Saks Fifth Avenue Galleria store marketing director. “We think Sunday will be a big day, too, because the game is in the evening.”

Cowboys tight end Jason Witten will be signing footballs Saturday at Galleria’s Saks Fifth Avenue that will be given as a gift with a $250 Hugo Boss purchase. Saks is launching Jimmy Choo the Fragrance as an exclusive on Saturday.

A trunk show is scheduled almost every hour on the hour somewhere in Dallas through Sunday. Hospitality suites on each floor at NorthPark’s Neiman Marcus will serve sweets and snacks in the colors of the Packers and the Steelers. TVs tuned to sports channels have been installed in men’s departments at Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.

The downtown Neiman Marcus men’s department is serving scotch, and on Saturday, a champagne bar and DJ will entertain on the first floor all day while models will be located throughout the store.

Suzanne Campbell, manager of Pinto Ranch, an upscale Western wear store at NorthPark, has scheduled Texas artisan events and demonstrations and is bringing in special merchandise from Texas designers Particia Wolf and Pat Dahnke.

‘Everything Texas’

“We’re trying to promote everything Texas because we are expecting people will look for that,” Campbell said. “It’s amazing how many people still want to see Southfork after all these years.”

Over the years, host cities have anecdotally rated fans for their spending. Miami says that Saints fans were big spenders in 2010 with all their pent-up demand from waiting decades to get to the big game. Hoosiers are historically frugal, so the Colts scored low on this meter.

This time, spending expectations were higher when New York vs. Chicago was a potential matchup “just because they’re from bigger cities,” said Steve Bock, whose family owns three Bachendorf’s jewelry stores, including one at the Galleria. “Not to say there aren’t wealthy people living in those [Green Bay and Pittsburgh] markets, they’re just smaller markets.”

Neiman Marcus is accepting Visa and MasterCard in its four local stores through Monday, a departure from its policy of accepting only its own card and American Express.

Asked if Dallas missed out on a bigger spending opportunity, Neiman Marcus vice president Ginger Reeder said, “How could any of us possibly know that?”

Just for the record, neither Saks Fifth Avenue nor Neiman Marcus has a store in Wisconsin. There’s no Neiman Marcus in Pittsburgh, not even a Last Call outlet.

And Saks keeps trying to terminate its lease for its only Pittsburgh store, saying it will close in 2012 if it doesn’t get rent relief. (There is an Off 5th in suburban Pittsburgh.)

Just saying … maybe Pittsburgh and Green Bay have more to prove than just football prowess.