Rider Stores excited for return to play, see sales pick up

It often feels like you’d be hard-pressed to walk down the streets of Regina, Saskatoon or anywhere else in the province without seeing some Roughrider gear.

Those who are looking to add some more to their Rider collection likely won’t be alone this weekend.

The team is set to take on the B.C. Lions at Mosaic Stadium Friday.

That’s great news for Mark Habicht, the director of retail operations with the team.

He said that seeing players hit the field is a big driver of sales.

“The season is just so crucial to what we do … Obviously last year, just not having those games, it wasn’t the same energy. It wasn’t the same excitement. It certainly wasn’t the same sales,” he explained.

Things pick up even more when there are big, exciting games, like when the Riders went to the West Final against Winnipeg in 2019.

“You lose out on that in a year where you’re not playing games, obviously. It’s always a challenge to be top of mind, and that’s what games allow us to be,” he continued.

With the CFL’s reduced schedule this year, they’ll only be playing seven regular season games at Mosaic Stadium, as opposed to the usual 10. Still, Habicht thinks they’ll be able to work through that.

“We’re going to have great crowds all the way through Labour Day … In some ways, I’m hopeful it’s going to be very similar, and just compacted into seven games, and so it’s still going to end up being a very good year,” he said.

“I also think a lot of people took the year off from buying last year, so a lot of the stuff they own now is from 2018 or 2019, so there’s kind of an excitement to get that new piece in their line and update their Rider wardrobe.”

It’s not just fans and the team: more people are getting back to work at the Rider Stores.

“To be able to bring back some of these folks, we have some folks who basically just work game days or game weeks for us, so they’re back in the mix. There’s a real excitement downstairs among the staff to get back and do what we do.”

Mosaic Stadium will be packed with fans rocking their own Rider gear Friday at 7:30 p.m., when they hit the field for the first time in 628 days.

—With files from Britton Gray