Trump Gear Pop-up Store

Business opportunity: Sell Trump hats, flags, masks.  

Lots of customers. Big markups.

"No man, no woman, no commie can stop him."

      Trump as Rambo flag for sale.

A Trump store popped up on a wide spot on the side of a busy highway. It was no frills. It didn't need frills.

The store was a motor home festooned with Trump flags and banners. Local readers have seen the location, at the corner of Vilas Road and Highway 62, just north of a big shopping center where Walmart, Lowes, and until recently Costco, have big box stores. The shoulder of the road is wide and there was space for a dozen cars to pull over.

While I was there--for ten minutes--seven different cars pulled up. These were not curiosity lookers and comparison shoppers. These were buyers. They wanted to buy the hat to put on their heads and display their pride and association with Trump.

It might be obvious, but it is worth saying. This store was not selling irony, or camp, or kitsch material for sophisticates to buy as gag gifts, or as a curiosity. This is for real. 

The proprietor said her daughter had a similar business up and running in a nearby town--Grants Pass--and she hoped to get a better space in a mall shortly, but this would do for now and was really busy.  As I talked with her passing cars honked and waved. 

A woman in her fifties, who had bought an American flag style neckerchief told me she liked Trump because he "was fighting for our liberties, the freedom to have guns. Freedom of religion. The freedom not to have to have vaccinations if we don't want them. I don't want government telling me I have to have vaccinations or anything done to my body."

I asked if she wore a mask in stores. "I do if the store wants me to. It is their store and they have a right to make the rules. Otherwise, I don't care."

A woman in her forties who had purchased a banner said she admired Trump. "He gave up everything a man could want to serve his country. He had everything. Gold everything in his house. Every luxury and pleasure a man could desire, and he gave all that up. While the other guy, he's been there for fifty years on the dole."

Best Selling Item

A man in his thirties told me he was Mexican-American and he liked Trump. He said he was born in LA, but his parents were from Mexico. He said he didn't like Trump saying Mexicans were bad, that didn't sit right, but "there are bad people of every kind. Trump seemed like he was trying his best." 

I asked if Trump did a good job on the virus. He said he didn't know much. I asked if he knew anything about Biden, and he shrugged, and said that he had heard of him, yes.

A man in his sixties said that Trump "stood up for America."  I was wearing a mask, and like every other person at the outdoor store, he was not. His manner was mildly hostile. I thanked him as I backed away.  He said, Trump was "sticking up for America first."

An old woman who stayed in her car while her daughter shopped held a mask but did not wear it. I stayed well away. She told me God blessed Donald Trump and that he was a very good man. God was looking out for Mr. Trump, she said.

The proprietor told me adult size masks were $10, children's were $5, hats were $20 and they were the best sellers, and then flags and banners next, which cost $30 and up. She said she sold one of the Confederate flags so far.

Good markup opportunity

There are substantial markup opportunities for a entrepreneur who wants to get into the business. Similar material is purchasable on line for as little as $3 per hat. But this is an impulse purchase by people excited to be part of something bigger than themselves.

A question for Democrats: Would a similar pop-up store selling Biden merchandise work?  

I expect not. I have never in my life seen a Biden hat, not even at Biden Town Hall events in Iowa and New Hampshire.

A pop-up store selling Dump Trump material might, however, do some business.