Houston Astros 'Gold Rush' merchandise event: Thousands of fans line up at midnight
HOUSTON - Thousands of Houston Astros fans were lined up overnight to score exclusive gold merchandise to commemorate the team’s World Series win.
The Union Station Team Store in Minute Maid Park opened at midnight Wednesday and will remain open for 24 hours for the Astros "Gold Rush" event.
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The event includes special gold items – including jerseys and hats – that are part of the Gold Program from New Era and Nike, which commemorates the Astros 2022 World Series Championship. The champs will be wearing the gold jerseys on Opening Day on March 30 and at Ring Day on March 31.
Tom Jennings, Astros Vice President of Merchandising and Retail Operations, says people started lining up around 10 a.m. Tuesday.
"We probably had about 2,500 people lined up at midnight and then people just kept filtering through the night," Jennings said Wednesday morning.
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Around 6:30 a.m., he estimated around 4,000 customers had come through the team store since they opened.
Fans were still inside Wednesday morning shopping for the jerseys lining the walls.
"Basically what we try and do with the Astros team store is no matter who your favorite player is, we're going to have them. Whether it's José Altuve or Jeremy Peña, who had such a great post-season, Martín Maldonado, Cristian Javier just signed a new contract with the Astros. We try and have a little bit of something for everybody," Jennings says.
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Jennings says, so far, the Jeremy Peña jerseys are the top-selling ones.
"After being the ALCS and the World Series MVP, he is absolutely beloved by the Houston fans. He’s the number one selling men’s and women’s jersey at the Gold Rush right now," Jennings said.
Astros fans will even have a chance to buy the Jostens 2022 Astros Championship Limited Edition Fan Ring from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. The ring will be unveiled on Ring Day, so this is an opportunity to buy it without seeing it.
For more information on the Astros Gold Rush retail event, visit the Astros website.