Originally published Wednesday, September 17, 2008 at 12:00 AM

Red-hot deals at the Sonics souvenir store

All merchandise in the Seattle Sonics store near KeyArena is on sale at 90 percent off, one of the most visible signs that the basketball team is long gone from Seattle and ensconced in Oklahoma City.

By Susan Gilmore

Seattle Times staff reporter

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DEAN RUTZ / THE SEATTLE TIMES

Rick Shelby, of Seattle, wanders through the Sonics and Storm Team Store on Tuesday, looking for something he might have missed in the massive clearance sale of Sonics merchandise. Shelby, a 40-year fan who hoped to find a sweatshirt earlier in the sale, was rewarded with that sweatshirt.

Get 'em while they're hot, sorta ...

All merchandise in the Seattle Sonics store near KeyArena is on sale for 90 percent off, one of the most visible signs that the basketball team is long gone from Seattle and ensconced in Oklahoma City.

"I've been a big Sonics fan since I was a little kid," said Tom Veatural, from Renton, who walked out of the store with a T-shirt, two jackets and a Sonics jersey, all for $34. The shirts themselves, he said, usually fetched $75. "I came here to get some Christmas presents."

Workers at the store, which sells Seattle Storm gear in the front and the Sonics stuff in the back, couldn't say how long the sale would last but said business is brisk.

"It's as busy as any store would be with 90 percent off," said a manager who would not give his name. He said the sale would continue until all the merchandise was gone.

T-shirts, jackets, hats, key chains, basketballs and everything Sonics was on sale.

Another shopper, Carolyn Redar from Seattle, walked out with a green sweat-shirt jacket. "It's cheap and I liked it," said Redar, who recently moved here from Michigan, "and I've had no time to be a Sonics fan."

Carole Miller walked out with a bag full of foam fingers and pencils.

"I'm a Storm fan," she said. "I don't care about the Sonics."

That was echoed by another woman who came out of the store clutching an envelope.

"I'm buying a ticket for the Storm playoff games," she said. "They're the ones who stayed."

Susan Gilmore: 206-464-2054 or sgilmore@seattletimes.com

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