Tuesday, February 15, 2000
Kroger selling 'Junior' T-shirts
BY RANDY TUCKER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati's Kroger grocery chain got off to a fast start in the race to cash in on Ken Griffey Jr. merchandise, ordering its first batch of T-shirts bearing the slugger's name and team logo even before he announced his new contract with the Reds.
Steve Jagers, a spokesman for Kroger's Cincinnati division, said the company placed a contingency order with its supplier for several hundred Ken Griffey Jr. T-shirts the day before the slugger announced his new contract Thursday.
Griffey had been going on all last week, and when we heard that there was a possibility negotiations were going on, we put the wheels in motion to have the T-shirts available as soon as we could,” Mr. Jagers said.
The first batch arrived Sat urday night at the Kroger store in Hyde Park. Soon, all Kroger's major outlets will carry the T-shirts, he said.
For now, the stores will carry only T-shirts, Mr. Jagers said. But he acknowledged that the merchandise mix could be expanded, depending on demand for Ken Griffey Jr. products.
Mr. Jagers said he didn't know how well the T-shirts — priced at $10.88 for children and $11.88 for adults — had been selling since they hit Kroger's store shelves this weekend.
But he's confident he'll be ordering more — soon.
“I haven't heard any reports, but I'm sure that as soon as our customers find out we have them (T-shirts), they'll be hot items,” Mr. Jagers said.
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