Stanley Cup Fever Gives a Boost To Local Business

For Bob Ryan of Ryan and Sons' Gob Shop on 15 North Main St. the Boston Bruins run to the Stanley Cup Finals has been doubly enjoyable.

Not only does each win bring the life-long fan closer to seeing the team hoist the Cup for the first time since 1972, it also brings in the customers looking to share in the team’s success by buying a souvenir hat or shirt.

The fan in him will gladly share a story about Bobby Orr and Boston’s last Stanley Cup winning team. He’ll even an argue that Orr was greater than NHL legend Wayne Gretzky, an argument that has its merits, though true believers would be hard to find outside of Massachusetts.

The business owner side of Ryan will focus on the difficulties of meeting demand and how the run has been a bright spot in a tough year that saw part of the store’s roof collapse in February due to the heavy ice and snow.

“The Cup makes a world of difference,” Ryan said, adding that his store has begun to run low on Bruins gear due to all the fans coming in and “If they ever win the Cup we’re going to need to get a bunch more.”

The Bruins’ run has also helped with the sales of merchandise outside of the Bruins gear, not only hockey supplies, but sports equipment in general.

“It seems to make it better for all sports. People are getting motivated to go outside and do something,” Ryan said.

In South Attleboro, on the corner of Washington Street there is a small tent set up selling Bruins hats and t-shirts. These small tents show up whenever the local sports team winds up in the championship game. Perhaps had the Celtics been able to get by the Miami Heat and advance to the NBA Finals there’d be a green and white tent set-up right next to the black and gold one.

Alex, who declined to give is last name, mans the tent and has seen other cities go crazy with team pride after their local team wins, citing his experience at the parade in New Orleans following the Saints’ Super Bowl victory in 2009.

“That was probably our most profitable day ever,” Alex said.

However, he also said that sales at the Attleboro stand, which has been set-up since the Bruins defeated the Tampa Lightning to win the Eastern Conference, were lower than in other ones that were closer to Boston.

Unlike Ryan, Alex isn’t a life long Bruins fan, preferring other sports to hockey. In fact, he is from New York originally and is Yankees fan, something that might not make him too popular in the heart of Red Sox Nation.

“I’m a Yankee fan, but I don’t discriminate against other teams. I really do hope the Bruins take it,” Alex said.

Even a national chain such as Dick’s Sporting Goods is attempting to cash in on the Bruins’ success. The North Attleboro store has the team’s logo painted on one of its front windows as well as making sure that all of the Bruins shirts, hats, jerseys and towels are prominently displayed up front. One worker was even wearing a Milan Lucic T-shirt while ringing out customers.