By Adam Smith
The North Jefferson News
Anyone unaware of the special guest at the Gardendale Walmart on Sunday may have thought the store was giving away free groceries.
The special guest wasn’t a person, but instead a thing — the BCS National Championship Coach’s Trophy awarded to the Alabama Crimson Tide after the team’s 37-21 defeat of Texas on Thursday night. Thousands of people crammed into the store for their chance to get a glimpse of the crystal football.
The trophy made one other appearance on Saturday at a Walmart in Tuscaloosa. It was turned over to the University of Alabama on Monday.
Gardendale Walmart manager Derek Freeman said at least 6,000 people came to see the trophy. He said Dr. Pepper had informed him two days before Thursday’s game that if Alabama won, the trophy would likely be making a stop in Gardendale.
“I thought it went pretty good and we got a lot of ‘thank yous’ for having it and keeping the line moving through,” Freeman said. “We didn’t really have any problems.”
He said despite the volume of Alabama fans, everyone was “really good natured about it.”
The Gardendale Walmart was chosen because it sells more Dr. Pepper than any other store in the Birmingham area, according to James Cochran, director of sales and marketing for Buffalo Rock.
Gardendale Mayor Othell Phillips, a lifelong Alabama fan, was one of those on hand Sunday with his family. He said the trophy’s visit was not only great for Crimson Tide fans, but for the city.
“It was a real big day for us and I think we’ll see some economic benefits,” he said.
Freeman said it was hard to tell how many of those on hand to see the trophy were also shopping in the store, but sales of Alabama-related merchandise have been swift since the championship win.
“We’ve definitely had an obvious increase in traffic [since the win],” he said. “We already had our championship shirts in and we’ve had to make a couple of extra orders.”
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