Sale of baseball equipment surges at retail stores

The sweeping zeal for baseball has contributed to the sale of baseball equipment at the nation`s major discount retail stores, industry officials said yesterday.

Even though the Korean national team lost to the Japanese in the final round of the World Baseball Classic yesterday, baseball fever is likely to continue with the number of people looking for equipment rapidly growing, they said.

According to E-Mart, its sales of baseball equipment in January-March increased 170 percent from the same period a year ago. In particular, between March 7-22, when Korean TV stations broadcast WBC games, sales surged 310 percent higher than during the same period last year, the nation`s largest discount retail chain said.

The popularity of baseball equipment in its stores has surpassed that of soccer products, making it the best selling sports equipment for the first time in years, it added.

Until this year, baseball equipment ranked fifth on the list of sports items` sales in stores, E-Mart said.

The nation`s second-largest discount retailer Homeplus reported a 287 percent increase in the sale of baseball gear during the last two weeks. A majority of customers looked for gloves and balls, it added.

During the past two weeks of competition, the sales of beer and light snacks have also surged, the discount chain said.

The sale of beer increased 18 percent from a year ago while fried chicken showed a sales growth of 94 percent compared to the same period last year. The sale of peanuts grew 7 percent.

The retailer plans to promote the sales of baseball items next month when the new Korean Baseball League season begins.

"Thanks to the explosive popularity of the Korean baseball team, the number of customers looking for baseball items is rapidly increasing. We are going to run many promotional events on baseball products in April to satisfy the customers` interest in the sports," an executive of the retailer was quoted by Yonhap News agency as saying.

Lotte Mart, operated by Lotte Shopping Co., said the sale of baseball products surged sevenfold in the last two weeks. The discount retail chain saw a 313 percent increase in the sale of gloves and 270 percent in the sale of balls from a year ago.

By Cho Chung-un

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