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Official PyeongChang Olympic goods are now available at 29 licensed outlets at major tourist spots across Korea, as well as online. The photo above shows the Olympic kiosk at the Lotte Department Store in Jung-gu District, downtown Seoul. (Yonhap News)


Official goods for the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, from long padded coats to “finger heart” gloves, have been flying off the shelves ever since their release. 

The opening of the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games is just around the corner, but some of the official goods are already sold out. “Although many of the products had been out-of-stock, they were restocked in late January, except for the long padded coats, umbrellas and hand fans,” said a PyeongChang Organizing Committee official. 

One of the most popular products are the ankle-length padded PyeongChang coats. Launched on Oct. 24, the coats were sold out in two weeks both offline and online. It was the first product in the PyeongChang stores to be out-of-stock. 

The coats, available in black, gray and white, are popular because of the reasonable price for a goose down full-length coat, around KRW 149,000/ USD $140. It's winter wear that keeps the body super warm for many years to come. 

Long queues outside the official PyeongChang merchandise kiosks at the official shops in Seoul, Busan and Daegu snaked around the block on the last day of the jacket's release on Nov. 30. The stores even had to limit purchases to one coat per person. 

Inside the Games, an online news outlet dedicated to the Olympic and Paralympic Games, wrote an article titled “Pyeongchang 2018 Padded Coat Proves far More Popular Than Tickets.” 

Also available are sets of “finger heart" gloves, available in navy blue, pink and gray, and they’re flying off the shelves. The red tips of the index fingers and thumbs create a heart shape when held together, a popular gesture to show affection or cuteness. 

Also on sale are items featuring the two official mascots of the Games, Soohorang the white tiger and Bandabi the Asiatic black bear. One of the hottest mascot items is the Soohorang stuffed animal. The white tiger comes dressed in traditional Hanbok attire, as both the bride and the groom. Many more products, ranging from sweatshirts to snow globes, are also available featuring Soohorang and Bandabi. 

Traditional Korean motifs and patterns are featured on many of the Olympic goods this year. There are placemats and table settings embroidered with traditional Korean paintings, and fan-like bookmarks inlaid with mother-of-pearl. 

With the growing demand for PyeongChang Olympic products, counterfeits of some of the more popular products, like the padded coats, have been reported. To protect yourself and to guarantee that you get official PyeongChang Olympic merchandise, make sure to purchase your items at the official online shop, pyeongchangolympics2018.com, or at one of the 29 PyeongChang Merchandise kiosks at major tourist spots across Korea. 

You can also get your Olympic swag at Olympic venues during the Winter Games. 

More details about the products and stores are available at the PyeongChang2018 Official Online Store (http://store.pyeongchang2018.com/index.html#none). 


Korea.net