Modell’s spent $500K on New England Patriots AFC Championship gear

You ever notice that before a big game, there always seems to be a retailer who has clothing/gear pronouncing a victor before the game has been played? That’s because stores often pre-order items much like Modell’s did with hopes of cashing in on a big AFC Championship win by the New England Patriots over the Denver Broncos.

Unfortunately for the Patriots and the sporting goods store, that didn’t happen – a decision that will hurt the bottom line.

"Modell’s already had the Pats merchandise on hand yesterday — a roughly $500,000 gamble, according to CEO Mitch Modell.“We took a tremendous risk, but you know what? People expect us to have the merchandise,” Modell said. “We printed up everything: hats, shirts, T-shirts, novelties, pennants — you name it — for men, women, kids.”"

Of course, Modell’s is one of the bigger retailers in the country so a $500K gamble isn’t back breaking, but I imagine it still has to hurt.

Thankfully the gear won’t be wasted as the company will donate all of the goodies to a third world country.