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Super Bowl Retailer Claims Turf At WestShore Plaza

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By KEITH MORELLI

kmorelli@tampatrib.com

Published: November 14, 2008

TAMPA - It's mid-November and time is running out. Let's face facts: It's never too late to start thinking about ...

Super Bowl XLIII.

Forget Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day. The Super Bowl is coming to Tampa on Feb. 1, and that means the merchandizing machine is grinding.

The first NFL Super Bowl outlet is open on West Shore Boulevard in a former restaurant in front of the WestShore Plaza mall and will be open until the end of February, unless everything sells out before then.

This week, Patti Berryman of Michigan was busy stacking footballs, glasses, posters and other paraphernalia for football's big day on the shelves inside the old Steak & Ale, just north of Kennedy Boulevard.

The store opened a week ago, and customers are trickling in.

The shirts, jackets and other gear just have the Super Bowl XLIII logo on it, because, obviously, the teams have yet to be determined. So between now and mid-January, Super Bowl XLIII green, blue and gray apparel will jam the shelves and hangers.

Berryman has been doing this for 10 years. It's her only job. She moves from her home in Michigan to wherever the Super Bowl is that year and opens up a shop for almost four months. She works for a company that has licenses with the NFL and Reebok to sell the official line.

Super Bowl weekend is huge, she said. From Thursday through Monday around the Super Bowl, the place will be flush with fans going to the game or just in town for the party.

Customers over that weekend, she said, "are usually those who know football and want to come by to get a piece of history."

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