Cardinals merchandise flying out of stores

Basic Arizona Cardinals jerseys are passé now that the team is going to the Super Bowl.

Fans stampeded to sporting goods stores throughout the Valley on Monday to get collectible Cardinals merchandise, and while the rush had slowed by Tuesday, the demand remained high.

Cardinals beat Eagles, headed to Super Bowl

The first big demand item was the “locker room” hats and T-shirts that the winning teams don immediately after their respective conference championship games and clinching a Super Bowl berth. The Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25 Sunday to win the NFC championship, and they’ll play the Pittsburgh Steelers Feb. 1 in Super Bowl XLIII.

The hats and T-shirts proclaim the Cards’ championship status and come in black and gray.

And there’s even more stuff coming, probably today, said Kelly Roberts, owner of Just Sports.

“There’s also a Super Bowl fashion jersey,” he said Monday, breathless from picking up his merchandise at the airport after the manufacturer worked overnight to get them on the shelves.

The Super Bowl fashion jersey will be a team jersey with a commemorative Super Bowl logo.

By Tuesday, women’s merchandise, dueling T-shirts, or T-shirts with both teams on them, and dueling footballs were also on shelves.

Steve Karls, manager of Just Sports at Superstition Springs Center in east Mesa, said his store was swamped when it opened at 8 a.m. Monday, two hours before the mall opens.

During a two-hour stretch that day, the store was busier than any time in the eight years he’s been with Just Sports, Karls said.

There were constant lines of three to four customers at each of the store’s two registers. Karls wiped his forehead as he struggled to keep stacks of shirts in order as customers picked through to find their size.

Cardinals merchandise, particularly jerseys of Larry Fitzgerald, Kurt Warner and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, have been flying off the shelves since the team began its run for the Super Bowl.

“This is great for the Valley, great for the economy,” said John Finley of Mesa. “This puts us in the sports limelight.”

Finley said he went to three different stores only to find his size was sold out at each, and they were waiting for more.

He killed two hours at Superstition Springs waiting for his size at Just Sports.

Gary Robles stood among the racks of jerseys with one of the black locker-room T-shirts he was buying for his daughter in one hand and a cell phone in the other to reach her in California.

“What a game,” he said. “Unbelievable.”

Barry Rinehart was there with his three sons, ages 16, 13, and 10, in an exercise of orderly chaos as they chose their T-shirts.

“You want hats?” he asked.

As he left the store, Rinehart said he had dropped $200 on merchandise for his entire family.

“We’re just supporting the Cardinals. We’re fired up for the Super Bowl,” Rinehart said. “This town’s been dying for a good football team for years.”