DENVER — Rockies fans love to show off their love for their team – eagerly awaiting the new sports merchandise the team will release at the beginning of a new baseball season.
Aaron Heinrich is the senior director of retail operations at Coors Field – he loves his job so much that this is his 31st season with the Rockies. His team searches all year long to spot the latest trends in sports merchandise, authentic gear and collectibles that will make Rockies fans go crazy for at the team store.
"This is such an incredible sports market. What we do here is yeah we got stuff for you to come to the game," said Heinrich. "Sports apparel is a lifestyle. You look at the hat wall and the colors and what people wear every day, people wear their sports team all year round. So you're trying to connect beyond just going to the game, it's about you as an individual. so you have the group and the individual component. That's what makes this so much fun.
One of the biggest events for the merchandise team this year was when Todd Helton was elected to the Hall of Fame.
"We had a deal with Todd to be able to have product ready the moment it was announced," said Heinrich. "It's a huge part of our campaign this year because fans want to celebrate with Todd and celebrate the moment as really our milestone player gets his due and is elected into the Hall of Fame and inducted in July, so that's exciting for us."
The team debuted a new jersey this season.
"I think fans are going to love it when they get it," said Heinrich. "The lightness of it, the athletic performance of it. It's a jersey for the next generation, Nike designed it, it's 75% recycled material, it is zero waste and zero carbon emissions in the manufacturing of it - so it really is a jersey for the next generation."
Heinrich said his team had the most fun designing unique Rockies hats.
Colorado Rockies hats
"Colorado with all the sunny days, hats are something we connect with our fans with," he said. "We really did have a blast designing these that you see and these are custom hats that will be exclusive to us here at the ballpark."
For the fans attending Opening Day, the merchandise team has tons of Opening Day products.
"Between T-shirts and lapel pins and baseballs," Heinrich said. "Koozies, you're going to be able to put your 24-ounce beer right into an Opening Day koozie."
Fans will also discover new merchandise designed in collaboration with local apparel companies.
"We have an exclusive store out here in our center field area that all the year will just be nothing but 'Be A Good Person,'" said Heinrich. "Local collaborations are something new within the baseball community where teams can do it where it's exclusive to them."
MLB teams can find local companies to partner with instead of offering the same merchandise that covers all 30 teams.
"'Be A Good Person' has their store up here in RiNo, they started in 2015 and they have an incredible message of positivity and inclusion and community so we felt it melded well with what we do every day here with the Rockies," said Heinrich. "It's got an incredibly passionate fanbase, very young demographic and the message is fantastic."
The Rockies' Dugout Store is the major retail store on location and features team-exclusive merchandise. In addition, the Dugout Stores are the exclusive outlets for Colorado Rockies game-used player products, such as broken bats and jerseys.
Access the team store from the 1st base side, from the inside or outside the stadium. Several merch kiosks are spread throughout the 100 and 300-level concourses.
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