Big D's Works To Be 'Sports Central' For Local Fans

Within 950 square feet of space tucked into the plaza at 83 Sandy Bottom Rd. is an imposing lineup appearing every day at Big D's Sports and Apparel Shop.

The starting lineup consists of the most popular New England professional sports teams, New England Patriots, Boston Red Sox and Boston Celtics. Coming off the bench is, yes- the New York Yankees and even the New York Giants as well as the Boston Bruins, , (ASFMS) Falcons and other local recreational teams, including soccer, basketball and cheerleader squads, are also seeing more time lately.

Playing a lesser role within the store is the West Warwick Wizards, but also making occcasional appearances are Justin Bieber, Lubies, Webkinz and other non-sports celebrity figures.

The small store has been open just three months, but the husband and wife team of Devron and Audrey Dill, both residents of Coventry, are already excited.  "We are surprised how well we did during the holidays," Devron said.

"Ten years ago my wife and I had dreamed about opening up a store like this," said Dill, a Machias, Maine native. As a former Walmart employee of 15 years who worked his way into an assistant manager position servicing the southern New England area, he finally decided to strike out on his own.

When spring flooding last year damaged stores in the plaza, including what was to be his future store, the former site of the Pawtuxet Valley Pharmacy and former offices of Rhode Island State Senator Leo Blais, he leaped. His new neighbors in the plaza would be USA Karate and further down, Coventry X-Ray Imaging Associates.

In late summer and early fall the Dill family of six, including two daughters and two stepsons, helped clean up and construct the store. "It was a mess," he said. "But we went all out with it and it was worth all the work." Dill combined his expertise in management and inventory control with his and family's love for sports to establish the store of his dreams.

A visit to Big D's provides not just an opportunity to buy sportswear and other merchandise licensed by the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL but also an education in how professional teams and leagues market each other, signing deals with manufacturers not normally associated with sports. Found here is Connect-Four, Rubik's Cubes, UNO, other games, propane grills and high-definition wall clocks in addition to licensed shirts, jerseys, hats, hardhats, lanyards and more associated with our beloved pro sports teams.

And yes, as a "die-hard Boston sports fan", especially of the Red Sox, Dill soon realized how many Yankees fans there are and has stocked- somewhat reluctantly so he admits, many items of the biggest rival to the Red Sox.

He says the most popular Patriots are Tom Brady, Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.  

Of course, there are Celtics, Red Sox and Patriots licensed jerseys, sweats, shorts, hats and other apparel such as calendars, sports cards and more. Specific items can per ordered at the request of customers.

With the Dills well-entrenched in Coventry, it is not surprising Big D's is already sponsoring teams and considering doing more in the future as their business grows. Dill has been a coach in the Coventry Basketball Association for many years. His daughters continue to participate on their schools and his stepsons played football for the Oakers.

"We are sponsoring the ROTC team," he said, while pointing out the red-and-white jackets and shirts they have made for the Oakers high school teams and the red-and-black gear created for the ASFMS Falcons.

"We will do minor embroidery work and anyone who buys the Middle School shorts we will put the numbers on for free. We send more detailed work to Audrey's wife, Lorraine, in Massachusetts, and these items will be sent back to us very quickly."

So Big D's certainly is keeping a close pulse of the local sports community and wants to cater to the passionate fans of all the professional sports teams, too. They are advertising in local publications and are always looking for ideas on the internet. A website is also planned.

Even if not buying anything at Big D's, visitors can still watch many of their favorite professional sports teams and athletes on the TV overlooking the store. "We have ESPN on 95 percent of the time," he says. "We also will track March Madness and even have boards with brackets for other sports teams and leagues."

The Dills also invite prospective customers to carefully browse their store selections before buying anything. "Prices for our items are comparable to or cheaper than many of the bigger stores," Devron says. "I love doing this and we expect to expand by a lot more in the coming years."

Big D's is open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday to Saturday, and will be open during the football playoff season from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. on Sundays. Customers may contact the store at 401-615-9049 or bigds@cox.net.