Greek Games a hit at Salt Lake mall

Mell Bailey thought she had retired from the Olympics business, mostly.

As owner and operator of "Spirit of the Games" stores, she had a good run selling 2002 Olympic Winter Games merchandise in malls throughout Utah. But runs have a way of ending, and Bailey was prepared.

However, as the Athens Summer Games drew near this year, Bailey started getting phone calls. Lots of phone calls.

"They (Fashion Place mall) kept calling us and calling us, saying there's really a need out there for it," Bailey said.

And so the "Spirit of Athens" was born, keeping the Olympic spirit — and merchandise — in Utah. This time, as a kiosk in the center of Fashion Place mall.

Weston Blaney, spokesman for Fashion Place, said the mall was pleased with the success of the "Spirit of the Games" store and believed customers would support an Athens store.

"The mall is always looking for products and services that consumers would be interested in," Blaney said. "The Spirit of the Games store was very successful, and we thought that there would be some interest in Athens 2004. We saw it as an opportunity that would be successful."

At first, Bailey said she was "skeptical." Would enthusiasm for the Salt Lake Winter Games translate to a demand for merchandise from the far-away Athens Summer Games?

Apparently, the answer is yes. Sales at the kiosk have been better than expected, Bailey said. Items available include T-shirts, pins and (recently "smuggled" directly from the Games) stuffed 2004 Athens Games mascots, along with discounted merchandise from the 2002 Games.

"It has done 20 times more (business) than I thought it would," she said. "I expected we'd do a couple of hundred (in sales) a day, because of its uniqueness. But it has gone way past uniqueness. Olympic fever has hit a fevered pitch since Salt Lake."

The "Spirit of Athens" kiosk is one of only a handful of stores dedicated to Athens 2004 merchandise, Bailey said. The others are located at Olympic training facilities like Lake Placid, N.Y., and Colorado Springs, Colo. Other vendors like the Roots retail stores sell Olympic merchandise, though not specific to Athens.

Utahns love the Games, Bailey said. And Greek-American-Utahns really love this summer's extravaganza.

"I'm half Greek, but even I didn't realize there were so many Greeks in town," Bailey laughed. "Gus Paulos alone has bought like $1,600 in items."