Locker Room of Downey creates a frenzy over sports caps
Regular customers at The Locker Room of Downey pose for a photo as they wait in line for the store to open. The line for the sporting goods store is exceedingly long on weekends when the owners release original merchandise. (Photos curtesy of The Locker Room of Downey).
DOWNEY – Outside The Locker Room of Downey, dozens of people eagerly waited in line, counting the minutes until they could buy the newest release when the store opened at 10 am: an LA Dodgers baseball cap with the 1988 World Series Patch.
“I’ve been coming here since before they became so popular. When they just had basic colors and caps,” said Dre Smith, a regular customer and hat collector. “The hat craze started on the east coast. When it moved west, [Ivan] jumped on it.”
Husband and wife, Ivan and Vivian, bought the store 10 years ago. In light of the recent string of smash-and-grab robberies in the community, the owners declined to give their full names.
“There is a lot of crime going on, targeting small businesses,” said Ivan.
The business owners say they are active in the community and are being cautious so nobody targets them or their store.
However, they were thrilled that their business could bring so many people together over a common interest.
“This community that now exists, formed by customers coming here and spending hours waiting in line together and getting to know each other,” said Ivan. “We’ve made friends, too. That’s what sets us apart from bigger sporting goods stores. We get to know our customers.”
While The Locker Room also sells jerseys, t-shirts, jackets and other merchandise, their hats are the biggest seller.
Vivian and Ivan announce the release of a new hat with a patch or design they came up with every weekend on their social media.
The line for The Locker Room of Downey stretches down the street as dozens wait for the store to open. Many customers waited overnight for the newest release on Dec. 11. (Photo by Vincent Medina)
“One of the driving forces behind the designs is fashion. The other is what resonates with our customers like world series patches, all-star game patches, designs that are important to the community,” said Ivan. “Customers also tell you what they are looking for, and we use our creative thinking to make the design.”
Their designs quickly became popular as people started waiting outside the night before to grab the newest release.
“We make lines Friday night,” said Edgar Reynosa as he waited in line early Saturday morning. “Today, I got here at 6:30 a.m.”
“The hat completes your ensemble. So when you have nice shoes, a jacket, and then a hat to go with it, it brings everything together,” said Smith as he admired the new Dodger cap with the 1988 World Series Patch.
“Sometimes patches have a lot going on, but this is a nice, simple patch. The two-tone is also really good so you don’t dirty the white hat with your fingers,” said the hat collector. “I got here at 7:30 a.m. because I’ve been chasing this hat.”
Collector Mando Gonzales is also a regular customer at the store and is an avid collector of caps, pins and other sports merchandise. He says he watched the business grow over the last two years as they started regularly dropping their hats on social media.
“My favorite hat that I’ve bought here is an LA Dodgers hat with a serape under-visor,” said Gonzales. “We’ve seen groups of collectors come through here. This place has blown up. It has created a community.”