Grandstand boasts unique collection of Sox products  

By Tim Weldzius  

As the White Sox season drags on in a hopeless state of mediocrity, South Siders can console each other at Grandstand at 600 W. 35th St. and maybe buy a 2005 World Series shirt on clearance. Established in 1989, Grandstand is a sports clothing and memorabilia store located three blocks west of U.S. Cellular Field that boasts the largest Sox product selection under one roof.

            Bridgeport native Pete Powers owns the store with his wife, Rosemary, and estimates his store is 99% family-operated.

            “There aren’t many outsiders who work here,” he said. “My father and father-in-law both work here. My daughter and my son-in-law run the website. There are 13 grandkids, and some of the grandkids have kids of their own.”

            Grandstand continually gets business from all types of sports fans because of its willingness to customize merchandise and change its business model when the industry evolves. 

            One way the store customizes merchandise is by stitching names and numbers onto jerseys for clients. Most of the company’s lettering business comes from little league and 16-inch softball teams, but Grandstand also stitches fans’ last names and lucky numbers onto all types of jerseys.

            “We don’t really advertise our lettering business, but we are able to attract a lot of customers by word-of-mouth,” Powers said. “We also letter some jerseys for the Sox and some pro teams that come through Chicago.”

            For the most part, customers are satisfied with the lettering services Grandstand provides. Orders for custom jerseys can take as long as three to six weeks, but most fans agree it is worth the wait.

            “I recently had [Scott] Podsednik’s name and number put on a pinstriped jersey for my wife, and it was done excellently and was completed earlier than promised,” said Ed Sayers, who usually shops at Grandstand when the Sox are out of town to avoid huge crowds.

               “I got my Sox jersey lettered there, and I'm impressed with not only the job they did and the price but the outstanding and prompt service,” added Rick Russell from Bucktown, who visits Grandstand whenever he attends a game.

            Powers admitted a tricky part of his job is deciding order quantities for jerseys. Sales depend on the player’s performance on the field, but baseball players in particular go through hot and cold streaks throughout the long summer.

            “You really don’t know how many jerseys to order,” Powers said. “If one player gets hot, we order more jerseys. Same with the entire team: if the team gets hot, we order more merchandise. Right now, of course, the Sox haven’t been playing very well, so we haven’t been selling as much merchandise as we would like.”

            Attendance at Sox games also has been down since the team’s 90-win season in 2006, which certainly has hurt sales.

            Besides creating and selling customized jerseys, Grandstand produces unique White Sox hats. The store designs each hat and sends the blueprints to the New Era Cap Company, based in Buffalo, NY. New Era then mass produces the hats and ships them to Grandstand. Consequently, the retailer has exclusive rights to sell many of its shamrock-themed hats and 2005 World Series caps.

            Ron Skidmore frequents Grandstand because he likes the selection of rare, hard-to-find items such as the custom-made hats. Skidmore moved from the south suburbs to northwest suburban Arlington Heights (prime Cubs territory) and sees Grandstand as a Mecca for diehard Sox fans.

            “You just can’t find this stuff anywhere else,” Skidmore said. “Giant house flags, car decals, magnets, collectibles—they have it all. The prices seem a tad high, but you know that going in, so why complain?”

            In 1999, Grandstand established a website to sell merchandise online, which tapped an entirely new customer base. Powers said much of the merchandise he sold for last year’s NFC Champion Bears came through internet sales.

            “You have Bears fans all around the country, so we had all kinds of orders from out-of-towners,” Powers said. “By week six [of last season], sales were huge.”

            Powers’ Sox merchandise attracts more of a local market. He has no idea how many of his sales come from internet orders because his daughter and son-in-law run the website and update it daily.

            “I generally try to stay away from computers,” Powers said, noting his daughter and son-in-law “do a great job on the website, though. I don’t know how they do it.”  

            Grandstand also sells autographs, and past and present Sox players sometimes stop by to sign items for charity.

            “When the players know that the money is going toward a good cause, they’re usually willing to come in and sign some items,” Powers said.

            To contact Grandstand, log on to www.grandstandsox.com or call (773) 927-1984. The store is open Monday through Friday from noon to 7 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It also is open during and after every White Sox home game.