Brisk business on Olympic merchandise in Vancouver

VANCOUVER - Ally Sheane bustled through the "exit" gate, her lunch hour burned, two bags of treasure in her hands.

Sheane, 22, was sent Monday by the public relations firm that employs her to purchase Winter Olympics gear downtown at The Bay. It was noon, and it was more than she bargained for.

And more than The Bay bargained for.

Sheane, her feet sneakered beneath her business suit, her curly red hair pinned down for the excursion, stood in a line of 100 like-minded consumers. She went from the back of the line to the exit in less than 20 minutes . . . because there were ultra-efficient fingers working all 17 cash registers in the 20,000-square-foot section of The Bay set aside as the official Olympic SuperStore. The Bay also is the official outfitter for the Canadian team.

"It was pretty amazing," said Sheane, a resident of nearby Burnaby, as she clutched the packages containing the coveted, quilted "Canada" team jackets.

Amazing, indeed.

The Bay on Glenside has done more than 30 percent more business than it expected to do . . . with the Opening Ceremonies still 2 days away. Inside the SuperStore section, besides the clothing and accessories, there is a Coca-Cola Pin Pavilion for pin-purchasing and pin-trading, as well as a Panasonic camera display. Those companies also are official Olympic partners.

But Polo, the USA outfitter, has a spot adjacent to the SuperStore section, and there is an entire International Pavilion on the property's fifth floor, where shoppers can pick up, say, a Finnish hockey sweater.

"We're doing a lot better than we thought," said Dana Hall, the store's director. "I think it all stems from pride in being Canadian."

Perhaps that would explain it, if it was all Canadians. They're gobbling up $10 red mittens and the $50 hooded sweatshirts faster than anything else, but everything is selling.

Monday afternoon, the store was swamped with internationals buying everything from Olympic maple syrup to Olympic golf shirts, of which there were practically none left.

The area was so crowded that stockers could not roll their carts in to restock the racks. The most thorough restocking is done overnight.

The area usually requires 30 associates. Hall now needs 450 to make things run smoothly.

But they are running smoothly - and for that, lunchtime shoppers like Sheane and full-time administrators like Hall are equally grateful.