As renovations continue at the Oklahoma City Arena, a new Oklahoma City Thunder retail store opened Dec. 1 on its west side, in a move team management hopes will draw shoppers not only on game days, but throughout the week.

Since 2008, a Thunder retail store has been at Leadership Square - where the team's offices are based.

"The plan is to keep it open," said Gameday Merchandising President Alan Fey. "There have been no talks of closing it."

Denver-based Gameday is the third-party retail company that provides turnkey merchandising facilities to sports organizations around the world. It has been handling retail operations since the Thunder came to Oklahoma City in 2008. Other sports teams as clients include the NBA's Phoenix Suns and Memphis Grizzlies.

Fey said the former space used for the team store at the arena will remain open on game nights for fans to create customized Thunder jerseys. Shoppers to the new Thunder store will have room to wander around and explore an expanded stock of apparel and accessories in the 2,000 square foot space - nearly double the size of the previous shop at the arena.

When it comes to selecting the store's merchandise, Fey said the team has a say in what is branded with the Thunder logo, and which players are highlighted. Rather than just focus on stars such as Kevin Durant, other players are represented.

"The team has a lot of input on what they want to see in here," he said. "This team does a good job of representing the whole team and not just one player."

Fey hopes the new store, and additional hours, will also spell increased sales. Rather than just being open on game days, the store will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Through December, he said the store will open on Saturdays. It is accessible only on the west side of the arena during the week. On game nights, entrances on two sides will be opened to allow access from the arena concourse.

As for the Thunder offices, plans call for those operations to eventually move to the arena, but Dan Mahoney, Thunder spokesman, said it will likely be a year or more before that happens. The movement of the team's offices will be in one of the last phases of renovations.