LI stores going green with Jets sales

Long Island Jets fans are hungry for all things green, and local merchants are prepared to give them their fill and then some.

Sporting goods stores are at the ready with jerseys, T-shirts, knit caps, temporary tattoos, shot glasses and even snow scrapers as Sunday's showdown with the Pittsburgh Steelers nears. Kickoff is 6:30 p.m.

Supermarkets and restaurants will have platters of cold cuts, heros, pigs in a blanket, shrimp, chips, dip, beer, wings and, in some cases, green cupcakes for the many anticipated viewing parties. And, oh yes, don't forget the green bagels for good luck.

"New York, in general, has been a Giant town, but Long Island is Jet territory," said Chris Berger, Long Island district manager for Sports Authority, whose stores have been experiencing strong demand for Jets gear throughout the season. " . . . So we expect demand for the Jets to be much bigger than the Giants, and it is going to get even crazier after they beat the Pittsburgh Steelers."

Businesses catering to fans of local sports teams usually see a healthy bump in sales when one of the hometown teams makes it into the playoffs, but the response has been particularly intense on Long Island as anticipation builds for Sunday's AFC Championship game, many companies said.

"After the win [Sunday] over the Patriots, Tuesday there was a tremendous turnout at the stores," said Rich Lampmann, Modell's director of marketing and public relations. Customers have been snapping up anything green both with and without the Jets logo, he said.

At the Modell's at Roosevelt Field mall, up to four special UPS deliveries of Jets merchandise come in every day, the store manager said. Similarly, the Westbury Sports Authority has been receiving three special UPS deliveries of items every day on top of its regular shipments. As the weekend nears, sales of pennants, banners and other Jets items will escalate, the retailers said. And if the Jets win on Sunday, both Sports Authority and Modell's will reopen many of their stores to sell AFC Championship merchandise.

SEE PHOTOSAFC Divisional: Jets 28, Patriots 21

Jordan Silver, 21, of Valley Stream, wasn't waiting until then. Despite the rain Tuesday, he came out to a Westbury Sports Authority to buy a jersey.

"I own the [former Jets quarterback Brett] Favre jersey," he said. "I need a legit Jets jersey."

Lynbrook bagels, owned by the Clancy family, began offering Jets fans green bagels on Monday. The family, a mix of Giants and Jets fans, sold blue bagels leading up to the Giants 2008 Super Bowl win.

Restaurants as well as supermarkets are ramping up operations.

Stop & Shop is beefing up its supermarket staff to accommodate an anticipated rise in shoppers between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday, said Robert Hempson, Stop & Shop district director. Its green cupcakes and other green baked goods sold well last weekend, he added.

"Literally everything we made last weekend with Jets coloring sold, and we're doubling our production going into this weekend, expecting customer demand to be twice as high," Hempson said.

King Kullen stores also are expecting a strong catering business and are planning an abundance of ready-to-go deli, produce and bakery platters.

"We had a great response last weekend, and we will be expecting more this weekend," said Joseph Brown, vice president of sales and merchandising for the Bethpage-based grocer. "If they [Jets] make it, it will just get even bigger."