As the United States Olympic team heads to London for the 2012 Olympic Games and sports fans everywhere begin to swell with American pride, visitors coming to Charlotte Motor Speedway are taking notice of the speedway’s new efforts to promote ‘Made in America’ souvenirs. As souvenirs go, T-shirts are the ‘bread and butter’ for Charlotte Motor Speedway, comprising the majority of overall sales. In 2012, the speedway has purchased all of the blank T-shirts used for screen-printing and embroidery from Jensen Apparel. Jensen, which operates a facility in nearby Albemarle, N.C., gets all of the raw materials used in its production processes from domestic suppliers. In addition to Jensen, Charlotte Motor Speedway has partnered with Winston-Salem-based SustainU, a leading provider of domestically-made apparel produced from 100 percent recyclable materials. The track also works with suppliers like WinCraft, a Minnesota-based company that provides a wide variety of American-made souvenirs, from key chains and bumper stickers to jewelry and other novelty items. In the gift shop, located on the second floor of the Smith Tower, fans will find banners and other signage proudly highlighting ‘American Made’ merchandise.(CMS)(7-25-2012)
