EDITOR’S NOTE: Copy has been updated to reflect that Glenn Street was not involved in the creation of Harvey the Hound, only in the promotion of the mascot.
A Calgary company will be front and centre for the second year in a row at the Super Bowl on Sunday — but not in they way you might imagine.
Street Characters Inc. created Pat, the mascot for the New England Patriots, and Rampage, the Los Angeles Rams’ mascot.
“It’s thrilling,” company founder Glenn Street said.
Thrilling, but not unusual for the company.
Street first became involved with mascots when he joined Grant Kelba in promoting the NHL’s first-ever mascot, Harvey the Hound of the Calgary Flames.
Soon after, other NHL teams came calling, asking for their own mascots.
“The response was always, ‘Nah, we’re just doing this for fun, this is not a real business.'”
But due to increased demand, Street Characters Inc. officially became a business in 1987.
Since then, it’s developed some A-list mascot celebrities, including the A&W Root Bear and the Energizer bunny.
For employees like Rob Hayward, those have been exciting, but the self-proclaimed sports nut is pretty excited about Pat and Rampage.
“Yeah, I got my hands on both Super Bowl mascots!”
Kayla Massini was just as excited, especially when Rampage showed up at the Calgary shop himself for a fitting.
“I got to delve right into his body to make sure he was happy,” Massini said.
Hayward and Massini are two of the 17 staff regularly employed at the Calgary company. All of the employees are local and all of the work is done in the shop, which Street said was essential in order to be on top of the design process.
That attention to detail has helped fuel the company’s growth over the last 32 years.
The man who is known as the “mascot guy” has had contracts from every continent in the world except for Antarctica.
Although Street is based in Calgary, 85 per cent of his business is exported — mainly to the United States.
He said because he exports so much, his business isn’t hit by slowdowns in Calgary or Canada.
Street and his team will all be watching the game on Sunday.
When asked who he will cheer for?
“I’m cheering for the mascots,” Street answered with a smile.
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