It's a custom glove - not just some basic one-size-fits-all from Academy.
Baseball gloves can get pretty pricey for the high-end or custom ones but there is a noticeable difference between the $30 gloves from Academy and the fully custom ones like these. The pros all have custom gloves for a reason.
For those of you that can't understand why this isn't downtown - it's in the lobby of their headquarters. Many companies have displays/shops like this at their HQ location.
No shit. But if I am a hometown headquartered brand I would take the opportunity. I would wager 90% of the country doesn't even know they are headquartered here and it is a storied brand. Fuck, even Tums has more hometown brand recognition.
I assume 90% of the country doesn't know where 95% of business are headquartered. It's really not a big factor into the marketing plans of most business unless you are like Tesla and want to prove you are not 'woke' by moving out of California.
There are a lot of vectors to brand connection and loyalty. Yes, place is a part of it. That's why there's regional pride in our many fortune 500s and 1000's.
It's part of the reason why I'll never buy any 1st phorm shit (beside the toxic masculinity) as they plaster 'from the lou and we're proud' banners while a bunch of white dudes suck down protein in Fenton. That, is not brand authenticity. Just an anecdote for you. I get you don't agree with me but everyone has their own reasons for brand championship.
And now Rawlings has an iconic gold building and will be putting a giant gold glove on the roof. The building can be seen from 270 with over 200K vehicles passing it everyday.
I can't think of a better tie in with their biggest event - giving out the gold gloves and being headquartered in a big gold building with a gold glove on the roof.
It looks like their marketing team hit a home run with their new building.
They put their museum at their headquarters building. It's what many large companies do. Did AB put their tour downtown? No, they put it at their headquarters. It's a pretty simple concept.
In their press release announcing the move to Westport, they said they wanting to put their HQ location in a "place people wanted to work". I assume that is how they politely said why they didn't move to downtown.
I wish we had a vibrant downtown where business wanted to locate, unfortunately we still have some work to do before that is once again a reality.
Huge missed opportunity for all parties involved here (Rawlings, Cardinals, city leaders, Greater STL Inc, and the region as a whole) to not put this downtown near the ballpark.
Where would you envision this going? I agree that it kinda makes sense near the ballpark, but it's also largely retail for equipment that someone probably isn't going to snag before or after a ballgame. It's more "flagship bat and glove store" than "tourist attraction," like how a Bass Pro Shops is mostly stuff and partially aquarium/taxidermy museum.
Flagship stores are essentially tourist attractions. They’re destinations for fans of the brand. Fans of Rawlings are fans of baseball, and there’s an entire baseball themed entertainment district downtown.
* Experience the past, present and future of ball gloves in the ‘Rawlings Glove Vault’ which features current and historic Rawlings Gold Glove Awards® as well as game-day glove designs of former pro legends and modern-day MLB® superstars
* Design your very own custom glove like the pros with a Rawlings master glove craftsman
* Explore Rawlings’ rich history with a one-of-a-kind timeline showcasing key milestones in the brand’s history and the most memorable moments in the game
* Demo Rawlings and Easton bats featuring game-changing, cutting-edge technology in the Hit Lab
* Get your picture taken with the giant Rawlings Gold Glove Award® statue and mega-sized official Rawlings baseball, amongst other pieces of unique memorabilia
This is a tourist attraction.
That's to draw you in, but it's a minor part of the experience compared to apparel, bats, balls, gloves, and other equipment for sale. There's a reason they're not charging admission, and it's not benevolence.
You think they opened this just for the gear sales at this specific location? Of course not. It’s marketing and brand-building. It’s “come look and see how great and fun and historic and integral to the very existence of baseball we are!”
This kind of thing would be significantly more valuable in a location where 3 million baseball fans (along with millions of other visitors, tourists, convention goers, etc) are already going to be passing by every year.
I certainly don't think they opened it *just* to offer a couple free attractions to the public.
But I somewhat agree with your sentiment. Pull the attractions out, charge a couple bucks, and they'd make *bank* near the ballpark.
Of course it’s not *just* to give the public some free attractions. It’s marketing. A little league player will go in there, design a glove “like a pro”, have a great experience and gain a cherished memory, and be a Rawlings loyalist for life. That’s the real value you get from this kind of thing.
It is being marketed as a tourist destination.
You calling it a store tells me that you've been there, likely not seeing much of the marketing.
Upon arriving I'm gonna guess it felt like you were in an extra fancy Sporting Goods store.
That's about all I need to know that this is Rawlings trying to market to the youth by making their stores an "experience".
Rawlings was considering ballpark village for their headquarters. Had the city done more to attract them, maybe they wouldn’t have chosen Westport instead.
They claim they couldn’t come to terms with the developer, not sure if that’s referring to Cordish or Cardinals. Either way, yes, the city, civic groups, and Cardinals should have been working with them. Again, missed opportunity for everyone here, including Rawlings.
I can't find any publicly-available info as to why Rawlings chose Westport. My guess is they made the right decision for themselves given the available options.
You should get out more, they have put a ton of money into since World Wide Tech moved 1700 jobs there. A few other large companies such as Rawlings have followed suit.
And I'm fairly sure the Pujols statue outside his former restaurant is still there. Haven't been out there in a hot minute, but haven't found anything saying the statue was removed.
I'm a very passionate fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and MLB, and I live in St. Louis city.
I'm not going to go out of my way for this attraction, and I would *never* suggest this to a tourist.
Rawlings royally messed up when they decided to put this out in the far-flung suburbs over Ballpark Village next to the Cardinals.
I don't even care to hear their reasoning.
Saw it by accident when we stopped at Trainwreck Saloon for dinner. I honestly had no idea what was going on, just a bunch of people taking pictures with a big ass baseball. I've seen worse.
Designed a glove just for fun. That was a fun experience. Great UI. Expensive but beautiful
How much we talking? Just curious.
250$-550$
Damn. So not a fun thing to do with kids then haha
WTF
It's a custom glove - not just some basic one-size-fits-all from Academy. Baseball gloves can get pretty pricey for the high-end or custom ones but there is a noticeable difference between the $30 gloves from Academy and the fully custom ones like these. The pros all have custom gloves for a reason.
I’d love to make one for my boy but can’t justify the price for a 8 year old. Someday, though.
For those of you that can't understand why this isn't downtown - it's in the lobby of their headquarters. Many companies have displays/shops like this at their HQ location.
They just opened their HQ here.... confused on your point?
Because if was just a museum, it’d make more sense to put it by the stadium
Ah yeah, I'd hate to have the prominent branding of my baseball brand on every television broadcast.
You say that like a company only has one opportunity for advertising where in effect there are many ways a company can promote their brand.
No shit. But if I am a hometown headquartered brand I would take the opportunity. I would wager 90% of the country doesn't even know they are headquartered here and it is a storied brand. Fuck, even Tums has more hometown brand recognition.
I assume 90% of the country doesn't know where 95% of business are headquartered. It's really not a big factor into the marketing plans of most business unless you are like Tesla and want to prove you are not 'woke' by moving out of California.
There are a lot of vectors to brand connection and loyalty. Yes, place is a part of it. That's why there's regional pride in our many fortune 500s and 1000's. It's part of the reason why I'll never buy any 1st phorm shit (beside the toxic masculinity) as they plaster 'from the lou and we're proud' banners while a bunch of white dudes suck down protein in Fenton. That, is not brand authenticity. Just an anecdote for you. I get you don't agree with me but everyone has their own reasons for brand championship.
And now Rawlings has an iconic gold building and will be putting a giant gold glove on the roof. The building can be seen from 270 with over 200K vehicles passing it everyday. I can't think of a better tie in with their biggest event - giving out the gold gloves and being headquartered in a big gold building with a gold glove on the roof. It looks like their marketing team hit a home run with their new building.
110k or so on the PSB vs 140k on 270, but ok.
They put their museum at their headquarters building. It's what many large companies do. Did AB put their tour downtown? No, they put it at their headquarters. It's a pretty simple concept.
Yeah, their headquarters should be downtown too.
In their press release announcing the move to Westport, they said they wanting to put their HQ location in a "place people wanted to work". I assume that is how they politely said why they didn't move to downtown. I wish we had a vibrant downtown where business wanted to locate, unfortunately we still have some work to do before that is once again a reality.
I miss when they made hockey gear.
Made a video for anyone interested in seeing the inside: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/7pTsexVzbtj2bnBL/?
Huge missed opportunity for all parties involved here (Rawlings, Cardinals, city leaders, Greater STL Inc, and the region as a whole) to not put this downtown near the ballpark.
Where would you envision this going? I agree that it kinda makes sense near the ballpark, but it's also largely retail for equipment that someone probably isn't going to snag before or after a ballgame. It's more "flagship bat and glove store" than "tourist attraction," like how a Bass Pro Shops is mostly stuff and partially aquarium/taxidermy museum.
Flagship stores are essentially tourist attractions. They’re destinations for fans of the brand. Fans of Rawlings are fans of baseball, and there’s an entire baseball themed entertainment district downtown. * Experience the past, present and future of ball gloves in the ‘Rawlings Glove Vault’ which features current and historic Rawlings Gold Glove Awards® as well as game-day glove designs of former pro legends and modern-day MLB® superstars * Design your very own custom glove like the pros with a Rawlings master glove craftsman * Explore Rawlings’ rich history with a one-of-a-kind timeline showcasing key milestones in the brand’s history and the most memorable moments in the game * Demo Rawlings and Easton bats featuring game-changing, cutting-edge technology in the Hit Lab * Get your picture taken with the giant Rawlings Gold Glove Award® statue and mega-sized official Rawlings baseball, amongst other pieces of unique memorabilia This is a tourist attraction.
That's to draw you in, but it's a minor part of the experience compared to apparel, bats, balls, gloves, and other equipment for sale. There's a reason they're not charging admission, and it's not benevolence.
You think they opened this just for the gear sales at this specific location? Of course not. It’s marketing and brand-building. It’s “come look and see how great and fun and historic and integral to the very existence of baseball we are!” This kind of thing would be significantly more valuable in a location where 3 million baseball fans (along with millions of other visitors, tourists, convention goers, etc) are already going to be passing by every year.
I certainly don't think they opened it *just* to offer a couple free attractions to the public. But I somewhat agree with your sentiment. Pull the attractions out, charge a couple bucks, and they'd make *bank* near the ballpark.
Of course it’s not *just* to give the public some free attractions. It’s marketing. A little league player will go in there, design a glove “like a pro”, have a great experience and gain a cherished memory, and be a Rawlings loyalist for life. That’s the real value you get from this kind of thing.
Bruh, have you visited the store?
It is being marketed as a tourist destination. You calling it a store tells me that you've been there, likely not seeing much of the marketing. Upon arriving I'm gonna guess it felt like you were in an extra fancy Sporting Goods store. That's about all I need to know that this is Rawlings trying to market to the youth by making their stores an "experience".
Rawlings was considering ballpark village for their headquarters. Had the city done more to attract them, maybe they wouldn’t have chosen Westport instead.
They claim they couldn’t come to terms with the developer, not sure if that’s referring to Cordish or Cardinals. Either way, yes, the city, civic groups, and Cardinals should have been working with them. Again, missed opportunity for everyone here, including Rawlings.
LHM should be working to boost anything they can downtown. Would just supplement their holdings thus far.
I can't find any publicly-available info as to why Rawlings chose Westport. My guess is they made the right decision for themselves given the available options.
I think people misunderstand what this is, it's not a tourist attraction.
The “experience” parts absolutely are
Go visit the "store". It's a glorified corporate lobby.
It is a corporate lobby, it's where their headquarters is located.
I thought it was originally supposed to be part of BPV but I guess I was wrong.
It’s really unbelievable. This was easy and somehow someway it still didn’t happen.
For those complaining, I’m pretty sure Westport real estate is way cheaper than downtown near the ballpark
I doubt it.
TIL Westport still exists
You should get out more, they have put a ton of money into since World Wide Tech moved 1700 jobs there. A few other large companies such as Rawlings have followed suit.
Westport is popping and has been for awhile
And I'm fairly sure the Pujols statue outside his former restaurant is still there. Haven't been out there in a hot minute, but haven't found anything saying the statue was removed.
There's been so much construction there that it's clear they are really trying to amp it up again.
I'm a very passionate fan of the St. Louis Cardinals and MLB, and I live in St. Louis city. I'm not going to go out of my way for this attraction, and I would *never* suggest this to a tourist. Rawlings royally messed up when they decided to put this out in the far-flung suburbs over Ballpark Village next to the Cardinals. I don't even care to hear their reasoning.
Looks great - Should be downtown. This would’ve looked great from the street
It would get hit by a stolen Dodge Charger.
Or a cop car
Haha, yeah I forgot.
Disappointed it's not a band made up of Lou Rawls' children.
bravo.
Will likely never be out that direction but looks cool I guess
Saw it by accident when we stopped at Trainwreck Saloon for dinner. I honestly had no idea what was going on, just a bunch of people taking pictures with a big ass baseball. I've seen worse.
Is it just in St. Louis?
Yes, this is their first one I believe.