Sunday night, right after the Saints beat the Vikings for the NFC championship, there was a line outside Academy Sports on Airport Drive in Slidell that stretched all the way to the Target store at the end of the mall.

Over at the Geaux for the Gold store in east Slidell, there was also a line of eager Saints that snaked through the parking lot. At the Who Dat Shoppe in Olde Towne, owner Ronnie Dunaway was doing paper work, getting ready for the crush of customers on Monday. Instead, fans were banging on his door at 11 p.m. and Dunaway had to relent and let them in.

“It’s just been Who Dat crazy,” said Academy store director Darryl Fletcher. “It was just awesome.”

(Use arrows above to view more photos)

What the customers wanted was all the T-shirts, hats and other memorabilia that stated the Saints were the 2009 NFC Champions, and the fans were eager to put down their dollars for anything that said New Orleans Saints.

Fletcher said he sold out of women and children T-shirts Sunday night and had to order more.

Dunaway said that when he opened his store Monday morning, he sold 1,200 T-shirts in less than 45 minutes, and he had to order more.

Dunaway is a very happy businessman right now.

“I thought that Christmas was good this year, but this makes Christmas look like a walk in the park,” Dunaway said, a big smile on his face.

By Monday afternoon Geaux for the Gold owner, Melissa Richier had sent her husband to New Orleans three times to get more T-shirts and hats. Richier said her business partner was in Gretna trying to find more Saints NFC Championship gear.

“Business has been fantastic,” she said ringing up sales at the counter.

Customers at all three stores were not only walking on air with the knowledge that the Saints were going to the Super Bowl, but were more than happy to plunk down money for official NFL Saint’s gear.

Pamela Boyd had a cart filled with T-shirts and hats at Academy.

“I’m buying for my four sons, and also for family and friends around the country,” Boyd said. She said that since Sunday night, friends and family from all over had been calling asking to buy them some Saints’ memorabilia.

“I had a feeling they were going to win,” said Saints season ticket holder Lou Jacobsen of Slidell as he grabbed up some hats with his friend Tim Hartwell at Academy.

There were also customers who wanted a Saints shirt that was smaller than normal.

“I’m trying to find a shirt for my dog, Trudy,” said Geraldine Goss as she carried Trudy around Academy. “I’m also going to buy hats to save and hats to wear.”

Richier said that the Sunday’s win was great for her store, but to her that wasn’t the important thing. She said the win has put people in the right frame of mind.

“Everybody is in a good mood,” she said. “Everybody comes in saying how long they have been waiting for this.”

When she opened Sunday night, she quickly sold out, and the crowd out in the parking lot formed an impromptu party instead of getting upset.

There are television monitors mounted on the store’s walls, and Richier is replaying Sunday’s game for her customers, but they seem more intent on the racks of T-shirts, jerseys and hats.

“This couldn’t happen at a better time,” Richier said. “This is so due.”