Have you ever gone to Build-A-Bear workshop and thought to yourself, “This place is great but there should be a hockey version of it!” If you have you are definitely in the minority because we don’t think anyone has ever thought that. If we’re wrong and you have thought that then you will be glad to know the Philadelphia Flyers heard you loud and clear!
During Monday’s game against the New Jersey Devils the team opened up “Gritty’s Chaos Factory” at Wells Fargo Center. The store is basically a Flyers-themed “Build-A-Bear” where fans can make their own Gritty stuffed plus with a variety of colors and outfits. How many possible Gritty combinations are there?
Enough for the man himself to drown Flyers reporter Ashlyn Sullivan during Monday’s broadcast as his security looked on, arms full of additional Gritty plushes as well. NBC10 Philadelphia gave fans a look at the store and the outfit and accessory selection with the man himself. Unlike your Thanksgiving turkey (whch you can dress Gritty up as) the “Mini Gritty” are all pre-stuffed.
Flyers Senior Vice President of Marketing Christine Mina said the “Chaos Factory” is part of the expanded and unique retail offerings for fans. Three new retail experiences have opened at Wells Fargo Arena this season.
This isn’t the first “unique” concept the Flyers brought fans, as a few seasons ago they actually experimented with an in arena “rage room”. Unfortunately for basketball fans who might want to grab a “Mini Gritty”, as the plushes are called, the “Chaos Factory” will only be open during Flyers home games.
This move just shows what a marketing power house Gritty has become
The NHL has plenty of lovable mascots, pretty much all of which have stuffed versions of themselves sold in team gift shops for fans young and old to purchase. Can you think of any other NHL mascot that would have an enter retail experience themed after them?
Can you imagine any other NHL mascot being a guest star on a comedy show the way Gritty was on “Abbott Elementary”? It’s Gritty’s out of the box nature that creates opportunities such as this.
Gritty has been a polarizing, but lovable character since being introduced. A recent ranking of NHL mascots ranked him fourth in the league. Even worse, that ranking was done by a Penn State student. Gritty didn’t even get enough love from his home state!
It’s Gritty’s world, we’re just living in it. The opening of the “Chaos Factory” has got to be the second-greatest story for Philadelphia sports fans this week since a certain NFL team with an insufferable fan base and Saquon Barkley made the Super Bowl.
Now if you could make a stuffed Gritty wearing the kelly green football jersey they’d sell out immediately. For copyright reasons the NFL probably wouldn’t allow that. We don’t think you can buy a stuffed John Tortorella, sweater vest and all, but we think that would be a nice accessory for future “Chaos Factory” purchases.