From http://www.news4jax.com/news/20360913/detail.html
QuoteJACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- For years, Jagmania has sold the hats, flags and T-shirts of the Jaguars and other popular sports teams.
Some people call it the best place to get the newest Jaguars jersey.
Now, this sports merchandise store that's almost as old as the Jaguars is getting ready to close its doors for good.
Owners said they've been hit hard by a bad economy and a struggling football team.
"I think this is the place," Evelyn Blount said.
Blount said when she needs something sports-related, she heads to the family-owned business filled with hats, jerseys and other sports merchandise.
"We put a lot of effort into it," said Carol Kanaszka, who owns Jagmania with her husband, Dave. "We put a lot of love and, of course, all of our monies into it."
But Tuesday, the two that own the four stores around North Florida are throwing in the towel.
"The perfect storm hit," Dave said. "It was a bad economy, bad Jaguar year and bad feelings all around, and everybody just quit shopping."
Dave said the stores focus on the Jaguars, and when that team struggles on the field, Jagmania struggles in sales.
After 12 years of business, the Kanaszkas said they're losing money on the stores every day they stay open. Now, everything in the four shops has to go.
"We have two pages of discounts," Dave said. "Everything is on sale."
The owners said Jagmania bought more Jaguars merchandise than anyone else in the country. Once they shut their doors for good, they said, customers will have a lot less to choose from with the biggest Jaguars store gone.
"We wish them well in finding their Jaguars stuff somewhere else," Dave said. "Good luck."
Blount said she's sad to see a staple go, but will definitely come back to take part in the liquidation sales.
"I'm just sorry that they have to close," Blount said.
The owners said they have $3- to $4 million worth of merchandise to sell at deep discounts before they close all the stores.
They expect that to take a few months.
When Jagmania goes out of business, more than 20 people will be without jobs.
I really hated there commicals but sad to see a local store go like that.
their commercials were cheesy and their prices were high (Bealls & KMart have good jag prices). However, for selection, it was jagmania hands down. You can find anything jag there!
Sad to see them go.
It's true...the commercials were awful, but did the trick. It is sad to see the store close...where's the team spirit people?!! ;D
sh*tty ecommerce site couldn't compete either.
That sucks.. I hope the team isn't the next thing to go...
Was the girl in the commercials Carol? This reminds me of 1995-96ish when I stumbled upon some vintage "Teal tongue" merchandise in a 5 and 10 in Orangeburg SC...I told my fellow group of travelers from Jax and they hopefully have saved some of that stuff...Remember the Teal tongue?
While it is sad to see them go, they are not the only Jacksonville-Based company in the same space.
And the other one has much more of a national presence in the eCommerce world.
She has a youtube page:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jagmaniagirl
http://www.youtube.com/v/U_EDzjc6p24&hl
Hope their next venture is an even better one. Good luck to all of you small businesses out there.
Why not wait for the season to begin before throwing in the towel? I can understand if they’ve run out of operating capitol but the article doesn't say that. I went to one of their stores Saturday for some new Jags apparel before the scrimmage and the place was busy. I would imagine things are slow in the offseason but would have to pick up during the season. Either way I'm sorry to see them go.
Maybe this means more sales at the stadium where money spent goes directly to the team. Any merch bought outside of the stadium/ team website is amortized amongst the league.
Football Fanatics has better locations, cleaner stores, better prices and friendlier staff. Jagmania was always more expensive for everything. And it seems like they made poor decisions in deciding where to open their stores. I hate to see any local business close it's doors but I cannot say I am surprised.
I'm very sad about this news. I wish I had discovered Jagmania sooner but that's the nature of living 600 miles away. It was a treasure trove for Jaguars collectibles in particular and the sheer volume and variety of merchandise is staggering. Given that I barely find any Jaguar merchandise here, it was a delight to walk into the sea of teal products that that store had to offer. If there was anything they didn't have in stock they always cheerfully and quickly special ordered it for me. I had great experiences with their staff. I'll miss it immensely.
Football Fanatics' website was more current and comprehensive and faster, which probably contributed to Jagmania's downfall. But as far as finding collectibles, unique items, and memorabilia from the Jaguars' earlier seasons, no place could touch Jagmania.
Unfortunately, they made at least two fatal business mistakes by (a) tying their fortunes to someone else's business which they have no control over (i.e. the Jaguars) and (b) not having a diverse revenue stream by selling something other than Jag's stuff (which is why Football Fanatics may not have similar issues).
stjr they sold many other sports related items. Lots of Georga, FSU & Gator stuff, not to mention NASCAR:
http://www.youtube.com/v/vv3YxjKTs-U&hl=en&fs=1&
^Yes, but branding is everything. Jagmania says, "come get Jag stuff", where Football Fanatics says, come get football stuff. Football Fanatics is also a bit more diverse (check out fastballfanatics.com, fastbreakfanatics.com, and faceofffanatics.com as examples.
It's sad that Jagmania is closing but they really don't have anyone to blame but themselves. They didn't move forward at all. Their website is total crap, it's not user friendly and is completely outdated. Football fanatics on the other modernized their website and makes it easy to order virtually anything football related.
Reading the article about Jagmania closing I was pretty upset. The owner said (paraphrase) that due to tough economic times and poor Jaguar performance their business is damaged beyond repair. Anyone who has been into any Jagmania has seen that 1/4 of the stuff is Jag and the rest of the shelves are filled with Gator (2 National Championships in 3 years) Seminole and Miami gear. As well a sampling of items from every other team in the NFL.
Their merchandise always seemed outdated to me. At least for womens gear. It IS a shame though that a locally owned business is closing its door. I really wanted them to pull through it.
Kristin, I agree with you. Football Fanatics always seemed like a very forward thinking company that used the web to their advantage. Whenever I went into Jagmania it seemed like I was in a used bookstore. Very dark, depressing. I remember going to Jagmania in 2003 to get a jersey and a few other things. I spent well over $100. I noticed I got charged $10 for something I didn't buy. The next day I took my receipt back and asked for a refund. The owner treated me like I was trying to rip him off. Seriously, why would I spend over $100 to try and rip you off?
My wife went there yesterday to grab a few things for our son's room. While she was in line, a woman was asking the owner about men's jerseys and sizing. My wife mentioned to the woman that the jerseys tend to run big and she usually buys them a size small. The owner heard this and said "who are you going to believe, her or me?" What a tool. Sad to see a business close but they were not very savvy when it came to customer service.
I don't know the complete story but it seems easy for a business to blame their problems outwardly rather than admit they did something wrong. I was wondering the same thing about Worman's. Have they not been in the same spot for years, even before there were plans for a courthouse. Hasn't that area been a wasteland for some time. Don't know the complete history on Worman's and their location choice so excuse me if I seem ignorant.
The more I hear, the more I believe the owners thought the money would always just roll in, without regard to price and age of merchandise or quality of customer service.
Every time I've gone in there since they first announced they were struggling--specifically to help out a local business--they never had what I was looking for. I would always be told "next week," then for two more weeks I went in or called only to get told "next week" again. I gave up and bought from FF and the Jaguars' online store (same entity, I know). Around Christmas, my wife went in the Regency Park store alone with my baby daughter and had a creepy male employee follow her around for a good 15 minutes until she finally had enough and left without buying anything.
And I felt the same as other posters about the inside of the store. It was musty, dusty, closed in, and packed to the rafters. It felt like a thrift store in comparison to FF.
I'm sorry they have to close, but it's all on them; not the Jaguars or us fans.
Never been in there, but on one of the TV interviews, the owners were really putting out a "it is everyone else's fault, and you are really really going to miss us when we are gone"
But I might go by and play vulture during the closing sale.
Man that is some sour news!! I was not expecting to read this on here!! Doesn't seem to be much excitement for the Jaguars this season.....