Welcome to Wrigleyville Sports!
While the Carlstrom family has enjoyed 30 years outside of Wrigley Field, their story within the Chicago licensed sports community actually began a decade earlier.
Initially called Star Promotions, with a focus on wholesale, they were the first family to connect big box retailers with team-specific product in 1980. You could find the Bears, Cubs, Sox, Bulls, and Blackhawks in select Kmart and Jewel Osco locations due to the vision and drive of the Carlstrom's. It was a true passion project and they loved every minute of it – creating the presentation for customers, re-working the fixtures, and assorting the various locations based on what was trending within apparel and headwear.
At this time, the teams within Chicago were also performing extremely well, so Rexene, Arnold, friends and family could always be found outside the arenas selling product to die-hard fans and building relationships within the community. In fact, that happens to be where some of the most memorable moments from the past 40 years took place – particularly the '85 Bears championship.
In 1990 they received a phone call regarding available retail space by Wrigley and immediately set up shop under the name Super Star Sports. "It seemed too good to be true. How could we pass on being part of that game-day environment and the love our city has for the Chicago Cubs?" This is also where their son Trey joined the family business and six years later changed the name to Wrigleyville Sports and launched e-commerce.
In addition, the family opened a second shop on the lower level of Marshall Field's (on State Street) in 2003. It was a significant milestone for the family given the past 20 years, and allowed their brand to be in front of additional consumers in Chicago's historic department store. "We were pretty excited to get a call from such an iconic store, that even today in its absence, holds substantial memories for this city."
For the next 18 years expansion and innovation continued - within e-commerce development, expansion of the Wrigley assortment, and additional locations in Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
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Being a part of the licensed sports community is a gift, and we strive everyday to bring some team-gear happiness to fans. We hope you will stop by and say hello next time you are in town or headed to a game.
