Castle Lager Premier Soccer League side Chicken Inn are on the verge of engaging a major clothing retailer to sell replica jerseys to their fans countrywide.
Club chairman Lifa Ncube yesterday confirmed that a consignment of the imported Adidas jerseys arrived in the country on Monday.
Ncube said the replica jerseys were already on sale at the Innscor Africa Express Inns supermarkets and they were negotiating with a big clothing concern to sell the merchandise throughout the country. The replica jerseys are being sold for $20 each.
“The replica jerseys arrived in the country on Monday and they are already being sold at Express Inns. The whole idea is brand visibility and to market the club. It’s just about awareness of the club. There has been a huge cry from our supporters who have indicated they want regalia associated with the club. We are still negotiating with a major clothing retailer for the sale of the replica jerseys in their shops in the country,” Ncube said.
The replica jerseys and the negotiations confirmed by the chairman come a week after Chicken Inn forged a partnership with Edgars Stores, which saw the leading clothing retailer present the club with T-shirts worth $1 500. At the presentation of the T-shirts, Edgars and Jet chains administrator Davies Gwemende said the clothing concern would supply the team with training and travelling kits in the future.
Gwemende said the partnership would be reviewed from time to time and Edgars were looking forward to seeing the relationship getting bigger.
“We are planning on having bags, caps, scarves, umbrellas, mugs and flags and as soon as we get all the merchandise in place, we will open our own sports shop,” Ncube said yesterday.
Big clubs — Highlanders and Dynamos — are in the process of tying up a deal with Adidas for replica deals at a time when the national football team, the Warriors, are failing to come up with similar deals.
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Chicken Inn are the second club after FC Platinum to have their official merchandise on sale and the Zvishavane-based club has even gone a step higher by having their own branded cellphones and bottled water.
Platinum’s merchandise also includes earrings, caps, jerseys and shorts for children and African attire for women, besides the usual jerseys won by their senior team and Under-19 team, which campaigns in the Central Region Division One.
