At the London 2012 megastore in the Olympic Park, tills are ringing until late at night with purchases of mementos from the Games.
At times, demand is such that customers have to be shepherded
through crowd barriers by friendly guards, and at least 20 check-out
tills are functioning simultaneously.
As they make their way forward, the park's electrifying carnival
atmosphere is heightened by the roars and cheers from sporting venues
and the constant rock-music beat from loudspeakers.
"Get your piece of the Games," urges the catchy slogan on the
posters of Olympic organizers LOCOG, who are offering 10,000 items of
merchandise for sale - in itself a record for any Olympic Games.
The choice is bewildering, ranging from deckchairs to puzzles,
Union Jack bedsheets and rubber bath ducks, jewellery, rucksacks and
umbrellas.
At the centre of everything are Wenlock and Mandeville, the
one-eyed official mascots of the Games - now also produced in gold -
and the bright pink London 2012 Olympic logo.
"This is our bestseller," said a shop assistant in the megastore's
photo department, pointing to an autographed photograph set of
Britain's top five Olympic champions - including LOCOG chairman
Sebastian Coe - that will set you back 799 pounds (1,240 dollars).
"That's a collector's piece, that will never loose its value,
because they played such a huge role in the opening ceremony," she
explained about the item, which displays signed photos of Kelly
Holmes, Daley Thompson, Steve Redgrave, Chris Hoy and Coe.
Most people, however, opt for smaller items, from pins to mugs and
caps. Margot Rivers was taking hoodies with the Wenlock emblem back
to Australia for her two grandsons. "They'll love it," she said.
A Brazilian, sweating and weighed down by his bulging shopping
basket, said he was overwhelmed by the wide choice.
In central London, where shopping streets have been festooned with
Olympic flags and shop windows display Olympic themes, business was
less hectic.
"Sales are good, going well," said a shop assistant at John Lewis,
as customers browsed among an assortment of mugs, puzzles, towels and
pencil cases. At nearby Marks & Spencer, a tin of biscuits displaying
the Olympic logo was the most popular item, at 5 pounds.
A spokeswoman for John Lewis in Stratford, near the Olympic Park,
said Olympic merchandise was being snapped up at a "fantastic rate,"
with a replica Olympic torch being the bestseller.
Models of a London red bus, bearing the Olympic logo, have also
proved popular, said an assistant at the Olympic Park shop, where
police officers on duty could be seen studying items for purchase.
The model bus, made by traditional British toy makers Hornby
Hobbies, is one of the few products made in Britain - with almost
everything else bearing the Made in China label.
LOCOG said it is looking into reports that Wenlock and Mandeville
toys were produced in Chinese sweatshops, where staff was paid as
little as 6 pounds an hour.
LOCOG hopes to sell 1-billion-pounds worth of Olympic
paraphernalia in shops and online, which would provide it with a
profit of 80 million pounds - an expectation that has been met with
scepticism by retail experts.
"I'd be amazed if they got anywhere near that," retail analyst
Bryan Roberts told British media.
Meanwhile, art critic Stephen Bayley dismissed the collection as
"expensive trash" and "Chinese junk."
Simon Lilley, LOCOG's head of retail, said the organization had
"great confidence" that the sales target could be reached, as the
range of products allowed for a wide range of spending power.
Amid reports that prices of merchandise had been cut in parts of
Britain to boost sales, a LOCOG spokeswoman Thursday declined to
comment on how business was going, promising a statement "next week."
