The Cavs Team Shop at Quicken Loans Arena yanked all LeBron merchandise. Other stores slashed their prices.
LeBron James shirts were removed Friday from Quicken Loans Arena, but 11-year-old Chris Williams of Miramar, Fla., found a Miami Heat version at American Airlines Arena in Miami,CLEVELAND, Ohio -- LeBron James memorabilia isn't exactly worthless now, but it's certainly worth less.
Companies were trying Friday to unload their LeBron replica jerseys, bobbleheads and other fan favorites, a day after James announced he would leave the Cavaliers for the Miami Heat.
Fathead.com, an online retailer owned by Cavs majority owner Dan Gilbert, slashed the price of its LeBron Fathead wall decals from $99.99 to just $17.41.
Turns out 1741 is the year Revolutionary War traitor Benedict Arnold was born.
"I'll let our loyal customers determine if that was by coincidence or not," Fathead President Todd Lunsford said in an e-mail. One version of the LeBron Fatheads sold out.
Whether the company ever again sells a LeBron Fathead depends on the star becoming "Fathead-worthy" in a Miami Heat uniform, Lunsford said.
At Cardboard Heroes, a sports memorabilia store at Beachwood Place Mall, manager Nate Cannell said he didn't know what he'd do with his LeBron merchandise.
He stocked up on Cavs items in anticipation of a championship that never materialized.
Now, more than a quarter of his merchandise is devoted to LeBron. And from LeBron onesies to autographed adult jerseys, from action figures and bobbleheads to life-sized Fatheads, it's all 60 percent off.
"We've had it discounted 60 percent since they lost to Boston, since [James] only gave about 60 percent effort in the playoffs," Cannell said.
The Cavs Team Shop at Quicken Loans Arena yanked all LeBron merchandise. The team said the jerseys are sitting in boxes and could end up being sold to a third-party discount retailer.
Meanwhile, workers were busy making the arena a LeBron-free zone, both inside and out.
A 40- by 30-foot vinyl poster of James, Shaquille O'Neal and Mo Williams that had hung from the side of the building was quickly pulled down and carted off Friday morning.
Inside, a life-sized poster that let kids measure themselves against the 6-8 James and 7-3 Zydrunas Ilgauskas also was gone.
But the marketing of LeBron the enemy already was heating up.
On its website, Champs Sports advertised a black Adidas Miami Heat jersey emblazoned with "James" and "6," his new number, on the back, for $44.99 to $54.99, depending on size.
And at Cardboard Heroes, Cannell lamented not having the one item he said would really sell now:
"A LeBron James dartboard."