U.S. Open merchandise: Everything from $150 sweaters to $26 branded rubber ducks for sale at tournament shop
A look at some of the merchandise available for sale in the U.S. Open stores at the tournament. Credit: Newsday/Colin Stephenson
Buying souvenirs at the U.S. Open can be pretty pricey.
On Monday, before folks could even get into the U.S. Open Shop at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center to spend their money on the latest hats, T-shirts and branded baubles, they had to first wait on a line that went outside the door and wrapped around the corner of the building.
All this while there were tennis matches being played just yards away.
“Honestly, when I come here, I just shop,’’ said Cindy Zlooth, a New Hyde Park resident who has come to the Open with other members of her Great Neck tennis team every year for the last five years. “I come knowing what I need, and know what I want.’’
So, what does she need?
“Nothing,’’ she said.
Zlooth and her friend Cathy Croce, who’s originally from Toronto but now lives in Manhasset, were over by the “hat wall’’ inside the store, taking turns holding each other’s drinks while trying on stylish baseball hats.
“We went to Lululemon first, and the line was so big,’’ said Zlooth, who was drinking the must-have tournament drink, the Honey Deuce. “So we came here because we want hats. And we bought sweatshirts.’’
“And I got socks,’’ said Croce, who was drinking a Moscow Mule-type drink called Match Point.
The baseball hats they were looking at were going for around $40, which made them among the more affordable souvenirs in the store. There was a green sweater with the word “TENNIS’’ on the front, and the U.S. Open logo on the sleeve, for $150. Men’s golf shirts were $100 and up, a stylish wide brim sun hat for men retailed for $68, and a short-sleeved white T-shirt with the U.S. Open logo on the front and some art on the back was $60. A coffee mug with U.S. Open art on it was $30, and a shot glass was selling for $20.
Among the hottest items in the store, though, were anything with the words “Honey Deuce’’ on it. The Honey Deuce has become the biggest star at the Open.
Sam Bissett, a visitor from Atlanta attending her first Open, was wearing a Honey Deuce baseball hat and carrying an empty Honey Deuce glass inside the store. She had to have the hat, she said.
“I love it. It’s the hottest drink,’’ Bissett, 40, said. “I've already had one, and I'm gonna go get another.
“I like the drink, and I like a trucker hat.’’
But it wasn’t only Honey Deuce merchandise that was moving well, said Karen Palta, a retail supervisor in the store.
“Our most popular hats that are always selling out right now are the ones with the dates,’’ she said. “It doesn't matter from what brand it is … We bought a lot of stuff from 47 in women's [styles] that are really trending, where people are posting on social media.’’
Also flying off the shelves was anything – hats, books, whatever – from the Roger Federer collection. The white baseball hat with the “RF’’ logo on it dropped Monday and was going for $50. And people were snapping them up.
But it wasn’t only clothing and shot glasses available inside the store. There was one wall that was lined with U.S. Open branded rubber ducks, which were selling for $26. And there was a table inside the store where Silvia Rodriguez was selling tennis-themed jewelry, for Forty Love, the company in which she is a partner.
“We started about 11 years ago,’’ Rodriguez said. “It was a line of sterling silver jewelry initially. Later on, as the market required, we added gold, we added diamonds, and of course we started in small tournaments, just like the players, and then we worked our way to being here at the U.S. Open.’’
Rodriguez, who is from Mexico, and her 80-year-old partner Jerry Kaplan, who grew up in Brooklyn but now lives in Alaska, travel the world selling their jewelry at tennis tournaments, including the Australian Open. On Monday, the items they had for sale ranged from $49 for a simple rope bracelet, to $1,399 for a gold necklace with 21 diamonds in it.
So, yes there are some pricey souvenirs for sale at the U.S. Open. But people don’t seem bothered by that.
“It’s so expensive,’’ said Manhasset’s Croce. “It’s ridiculous.’’
But…
“My husband told me when I walked out the door, have fun,’’ she said. “Don't spend too much money. That's what he said. Like, no problem.’’
Colin Stephenson covers the Rangers for Newsday. He has spent more than two decades covering the NHL and just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
