Key industry account Sun Diego is partnering with the San Diego Padres baseball team on several new business ventures.
Sun Diego is opening two retail locations at the stadium this season – one a shop-in-shop inside the Padres store and another kiosk on the main concourse. A company called Delaware North, which manages all retail inside Petco Park, will operate the stores and will purchase product from Sun Diego.
A third Sun Diego kiosk is expected to open in the stadium next year, Sun Diego Founder/CEO Dave Nash said.
In addition, there is a very big element that involves a new feature added to the ballpark for 2016 that will be visible on television and from the stadium seats that will be a Sun Diego branded area. However, Sun Diego and the Padres are not ready to talk about the details of that yet.
The entire arrangement with the Padres includes exposure on the large Padres scoreboard and on the LED message boards that flash around the stadium.
Two of Sun Diego’s vendors are participating in the venture – Quiksilver with its Quiksilver and Roxy brands, and Sanuk. These brands will also have exposure on the scoreboard and message boards.
The Sun Diego shop-in-shop inside the Padres store as well as the kiosk on the main concourse will have a 24-foot wall displaying 8 feet each of Quiksilver, Roxy and Sanuk.
Sun Diego will merchandise the floor space with some of its top brands like Nixon, several sunglass brands, as well as some smaller accessory brands. It will also carry a varied assortment of wovens, fleece, hats and T’s, including some Sun Diego branded product as well.
The agreement includes the opportunity for Sun Diego to make co-branded product with the Padres logo. Some ideas include the Padre surfing doing a double shaka, Sanuk sandals for men and women in Padres colors with the SD logo, and Sector 9 decks with different Padres logos.
All use of the team’s logo has to be approved by the Padres and by Major League Baseball, so Dave hopes that some of these ideas will come to fruition later this season, though others may have to wait until next year.
New Padres CEO Mike Dee is full of creative ideas and is great to work with, as is the entire Padre and Delaware North staff, Dave said.
“There are some exciting changes that have already taken place with more planned for the future,” he said.
The deal is multifaceted and includes lots of exposure for Sun Diego at the park and beyond.
“There’s a lot more to it than opening up a couple of kiosks,” Dave said.
The Padres opening home game is tonight.
Busy times for Sun Diego
On another note, Dave confirmed that Sun Diego is opening a store at the new outlet mall under development in San Clemente, a lease he signed in 2006. The development was put on hold during the recession.
While the store will be located in an outlet mall, it will be operated under the same philosophy as Sun Diego’s former store in the Carlsbad Premium Outlet Center.
The new Sun Diego San Clemente store is expected to open in Fall 2015.
