Everyone is talking about the team’s move and what it means for fans and employees, but there are also several local companies that do work for the team, such as Alliance Graphics in Berkeley.
Their screen printing and embroidery shop supplies all the uniforms for the staff – ticket takers, ushers, guest service, security, and so on. The owner said he has been an A’s fan since he moved to the Bay Area in 1984.
“This is a jacket that the security guards wear,” says Howard Levine, holding up a black fleece-lined jacket.
The pride he feels for his work is evident in his voice as he talks about all the work he has done for the Oakland Athletics over the years.
“I walked by, said hello to one of the security guards and said, ‘We made your hat and your coat,’” he said.
Howard, a longtime season ticket holder, could hardly believe it nearly 30 years ago when the A’s asked him to design uniforms for the support staff.
“It was just dumb luck. The guy they hired couldn’t get a job done fast enough, so a couple of guest service people walked into our store and said, ‘We’re in a bind, can you help us?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I can help you.’ Because I love the A’s and we wanted to do it, and we just built it up from there, over the years,” he said.
Howard and Alliance quickly took over the contract. They make all the uniforms for the staff, including parking attendants, doormen, security, guest services, ticket takers, Stomper’s crew, and even the A’s broadcast team. He can’t remember all the departments he’s made uniforms for over the years. The team account became a major part of the store’s business.
“Every security guard gets a jacket, a hat, a shirt, and often a sweater. And when you have 500, 600 people doing that… for a while it was making us a couple hundred thousand dollars a year, but now that’s all gone,” he said.
The team hasn’t told him directly that they’ll no longer use him, but he said he’s 90 percent confident the A’s will find a local supplier in Sacramento willing to take over the job. That also means his apparel supplier in Fresno will lose business, too.
“You can’t just take away something that’s as important to the community as the A’s and expect there to be no fallout,” he said. “I’m a huge A’s fan, so for me it was like, the A’s want me to work for them, it couldn’t have been better, right? And now you know, besides the business part, my heart breaks like it breaks so many other fans that we’re losing something that’s so important to us.”
Howard and his disabled son cherish their nights together in the stadium. While everyone in the stadium focuses on the players, Howard is more concerned about the staff.
“I went there and I actually took pictures of the people wearing our clothes every time we were there. It was so much fun. I had that shot and then I took a picture of them,” he said.
All those uniforms, now just a box of files — every design the shop ever made for the team. It’s a piece of A’s history that Howard still can’t throw away.
“We’re holding on to it for a little while longer because we’re real collectors and we don’t throw anything away. It’s a sad day for us,” he told KPIX.
Howard said he’s considering making a quilt for the team out of every design he’s ever made, creating a piece of A’s history that they can keep in the workshop.
