As the City of Medicine Hat moves into the final day of the 2026 Special Olympics Canada Summer Games, merchandise vendors struggle to keep any kind of stock on the tables.
Source for Sports and Eight 33 collaborated with organizers to provide apparel, drinkware and other souvenir opportunities for those looking to take home a piece of the Games, and sales manager Paul Bradfield says the response is far beyond what they could have asked for.
“We’re blown away by the response and how generous people are, and how much product is flying,” said Bradfield. “We ran out of clothing. We ran out of logos, and we’re scrambling to try to fill inventory right now.”
While the team is receiving ongoing refreshes of inventory to try to keep up with demand, Bradfield says they are often unable to keep more popular pieces available for long thanks to the sheer interest of those attending the event.
Preparations for Games merchandise began roughly three years ago, and have paid off in a major way. Bradfield adds he hopes to see more events like this in Medicine Hat in the future, as it has been truly incredible for businesses, for people and the city as a whole.
“I really want to thank the team here, everyone that put in work to make this go off without a hitch, and I hope they get to keep doing stuff like this again,” said Bradfield.By Anna Smith, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Aug 14, 2026 at 22:18
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