NY Liberty - Senior Buyer


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It's not uncommon to look around at a ballgame and see many fans dressed in team jerseys, T-shirts, shorts, sweats or wearing headbands or caps with the team logo. All of this apparel needs to be ordered and available at the ballpark or arena for the fans to purchase. The Senior Buyer is in charge of deciding which items will be sold and making sure they are ordered, arrive in proper condition and are on the shelves and displayed properly for fans to purchase. It's a lot like running the sportswear section of a clothing store, only in this case the clothing outlets are the shops at the arena.

Linda Konopka is the Senior Buyer for the in-arena outlets at Madison Square Garden as well as at Radio City Music Hall. Konopka spends a lot of time in the market reviewing clothing lines and sometimes attends trade shows to keep up with the latest fashion trends. She needs to make sure all the team products are ordered for the Liberty and other MSG teams and that prior to each game the Garden's stores and in-arena outlets are well stocked. "On game days we (she and her department) typically walk through the stores and make sure new items are on the selling floor."

During a game, Konopka is often checking out how the stores are doing and talking to customers, getting a feel for what they are looking for and what they are buying. When the game ends, she checks the sales totals to see which items sold and which need to be re-ordered.

Konopka attended Baruch College in Manhattan and majored in Psychology. While in college, she began as a Sales Associate at Macy's department store in Herald Square. She went from there to Paragon Sporting Goods where she moved into the buying department. After a couple of years, she was promoted to the position of buyer. Today she enjoys her role as Senior Buyer at Madison Square Garden. "I enjoy seeing three year olds in team jerseys and people on the subway in hats or shirts they could only have bought at our stores."

For anyone with a sense of fashionable sportswear, who enjoys wearing the "team colors" (and rooting for the home team), this can be a good opportunity to combine a fashion and a sports career. Next time you go to the game, check out how many people are wearing the team colors and how much is offered at the concession stands.