Orange is the new green: World Series champions’ merchandise a hit with fans By Ileana Najarro

Confident Astros fans lined up outside of the Academy Sports & Outdoors Bunker Hill store at the start of Game 7’s second inning. They brought lawn chairs, portable televisions and the family to watch their team clinch a historic title while being among the first to snag Fall Classic memorabilia.
Businesses across the city reaped financial benefits as longtime fans and bandwagon joiners shelled out for drinks, food and merchandise in honor of the Astros’ first World Series championship.

All 31 Houston-area Academy locations remained open overnight and still had lines well into Thursday afternoon, serving thousands of fans eager to buy shirts with the series logo and other gear in preparation for Friday’s Astros parade downtown, said an Academy spokesman.

Likewise, the Dick’s sporting goods location on Post Oak had customers in the store until 4 a.m.
The National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum, based in Milwaukee, sold several full sets of Astros team bobbleheads Thursday morning with pre-order sales kicking off the moment the boys in orange claimed the title, said Phil Sklar, co-founder and CEO of the museum.
In two hours, the upscale Bering’s hardware store sold half its inventory of $150 Waterford crystal baseballs commemorating the 2017 World Series champs.
Outside the Houston Chronicle office on the Southwest Freeway, traffic snarled the feeder road all day as fans lined up to buy extra newspapers – with a “Champs!” headline on page 1 – for $2.
Patrick Jankowski, vice president of research for the Greater Houston Partnership, last week estimated the city stood to reap a $20 million to $30 million windfall by hosting three of the World Series’ games.

Airbnb bookings in Houston for the home games alone generated $1.9 million in economic activity, including $1.56 million in visitor spending, the company said in a news release.
Looking ahead, ticket prices for the next regular season games could increase, Jankowski said. There will likely also be an uptick in Minute Maid Park tours among baseball aficionados, and conventions can offer group packages for home games.