LIDS Hat Blog

LINSANITY at LIDS!

By Glenn Campbell, Hat World/LIDS Co-Founder & Executive Vice President, @Wear_a_lid

LINSANITY. You can say I witnessed the movement firsthand last week when I was visiting the NBA offices in NYC. After a few days of meetings, we were treated to a game at the famed “Garden.” I have to admit I wasn’t too excited about going to a Knicks game. But, we happened to be there for his 7th start, and by then the hype was unbelievable!

The Knicks took on the Sacramento Kings and beat them handily 100-85. It was Lin’s worst scoring output (10 points), but he did what a point guard is supposed to do and dropped 13 dimes. Up to that point, it was his all-time high for assists in a game. The Knicks, who were 8-15 before Lin sparked the recent run, now enter the second half of the season with a 17-18 record.

We were all “Tebowing” this past NFL season, and now the Jeremy Lin phenomenon has spread all over the country. My question is who will be the next athlete to catch our attention in the MLB this season? I have a feeling there will be another great story. Until then, let’s all enjoy the LINSANITY. It will only remain if this young man can sustain this momentum for the rest of the year. After watching him several times on tv and once in person, my money says he is here to stay! I only wish I had thought of the nickname first. GLENNSANITY…has a nice ring, doesn’t it?

THE TRUE Super Bowl Experience

By Glenn Campbell, Hat World/LIDS Co-Founder & Executive Vice President, @Wear_a_lid

WOW!   No other words come to mind to describe what Indianapolis and LIDS did during the Super Bowl this past week.  Well, actually I do have a few…

The city rolled out the red carpet and put itself on the map as a TRUE player as a Super Bowl host city.   I know Miami, Arizona and San Diego are sexy because of the weather, but Indianapolis raised the bar for future Super Bowl’s to come.   I have been fortunate enough to attend nine Super Bowls, and this one was by far the best I have been to.   Downtown Indianapolis  was turned into a weeklong fan zone, not only catering to the fans but for families as well.  The interactive Super Bowl Village was complete with free concerts, autograph sessions, celebrity sightings, food and drinks, countless parties, and temporary makeshift nightclubs.   Maybe the most unique was the Zip line, something that is  sure to be copied by future host cities.   All in all, what can’t be copied was the “Hoosier Hospitality!”   The atmosphere and  friendliness you felt as you walked around downtown with 100,000 of your closest friends cannot be duplicated.   If I didn’t know better, I would have thought I was in downtown Mayberry. 

To make the experience complete for fans, the Super Bowl host committee picked Lids Locker Room as the official retailer.   We outfitted all the volunteers with Nike gear and brought a retail presence that has never been seen or done before.  The 2^nd floor of the old Nordstrom building, all 30,000 feet, was turned into the greatest Super Bowl store ever put together (See photos below).   It wasn’t just a store, it was truly an experience!   When a retailer can turn an everyday trip to buy a product into an engaging experience, they’ve set themselves apart from everyone else…and that is exactly what we did last week in Indianapolis.  With over 300 LIDS employees and volunteers and months of behind the scenes planning from all departments within the company, LIDS put their mark on Super Bowl XLVI.

After all that was said and done, all I can do is stand back and tip my cap to the thousands of hours put in by so many to make this Super Bowl way more than just a three hour football game.  YOU turned it into an experience; a memory that the 70,000 who had tickets and the hundreds of thousands who just walked the streets, will never forget!  I know I’ll never forget it.

Thank you Indianapolis and thank you LIDS employees!  I am proud to be part of the best retail team around!

-Glenn

LIDS Super Bowl Rally Time

 

This past week was a memorable one for all of the LIDS employees who came to INDY to help celebrate the Super Bowl!  Check out the video above of co-founder, Glenn Campbell, as he rallies up the troops before a big day at one of the stores!

Make sure you check out Glenn on twitter @Wear_a_lid, for daily updates on all things LIDS!