The much-derided "Wenlock" Olympic mascot is now available in London Olympic stores dressed as a Metropolitan police officer.
Its Communist rulers have set great store by Olympic success as a symbol of political superiority.
Two months later, there was a picket line outside Mr. Lee's store, the Olympic Deli on First Avenue, over the low wages he paid his workers.
His two Olympic silver medals are stored in a sock drawer, he said.
He joked that Rita would be scuttled – in truth she will return to the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, in Falmouth, where she is stored between Olympic campaigns.
Last August, Nike, which is sponsoring several Olympic teams, opened a flagship store on the busy Wangfujing Street in the city's center.
Vanessa Myers, a Salt Lake City resident, waited in line for two hours at the downtown Roots store to buy Olympic-team berets this week.
Chris Dawson, boss of the Devon-based Range stores, which was selling Olympic souvenirs including blow-up torches, rejected the argument that businesses were not able to cash in.
Home Depot has spread the 116 Olympic contenders among its 958 North American stores, where local managers enlist them to motivate employees and attract new ones.
