On December 19th, at the New England Picture Store in South Shore Plaza, a popular local sports memorabilia business, hosted two new england patriot players for a public signing.

Fans lined up to see Kayshon Boutte, Patriots wide receiver, and currently injured defensive tackle Milton Williams, with the option to buy a signature, inscription or picture with either of the two. They were there from 6:30 to 7:30, the store maintaining a steady line of fans leading all the way from the back of the store to the hall outside.

“Nah, it’s not common.” said Boutte, in relation to public signings, “This is my first time.”

Unlike rival sports stores in the mall, the store features authentic signed collectibles from athletes across multiple sports, though the signatures are primarily from New England based teams.

“Ya, I like it. Seems like a nice area.” said Williams about Braintree and its mall.

These weren’t the first two athletes who came for a public signing, with Treyevyon Henderson, the patriots rookie runningback, coming in on December 15, as well as the young Celtics star Peyton Pritchard previously. They have even hosted Tom Brady on September 5, though this was a private signing.

The surplus of sports merchandise at the south shore plaza emphasizes the increasing costs and commercialization of the sports industry. With sports betting’s takeover and fanatics’ jersey price hikes, it has become increasingly hard to enjoy professional sports as an outlet for relaxation with the cst of it all constantly in mind

Player interaction with the community in a locally owned business is a refreshing way to have once in a lifetime experiences and get excited about our teams in a less corporate setting.