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Strictly speaking, Ballpark Village has its first store — a Nike apparel and headwear shop in the former International Bowling Museum and Hall of Fame. But just how long it will last is anybody’s guess.

The store, which opened without fanfare on May 30, also sells Cardinals gear and items related to the All-Star Game, which will be played July 14 across the street at Busch Stadium. Sportservice, the Cardinals’ concessions operator — not Cordish Co., the co-developer with the Cardinals of Ballpark Village — runs the store jointly with Nike.

As part of the Ballpark Village plan, the museum will be demolished, perhaps by the end of the year. And the store will become homeless.

Bill DeWitt III, the Cardinals president, said he hopes the store remains in business through the summer.

"If we can get a little bit of buzz going on, I think there’s a real good chance it will stay open though the end of the season," he said.

Derek Kent, a Nike spokesman in New York, said a temporary store in St. Louis makes sense because of the All-Star Game next month. Nike has in the past had temporary stores for the National Basketball Association All-Star Game and the College World Series, he said.

Whether Nike, with $18.6 billion in global sales last year, stays at Ballpark Village is much in question online payday loans. Its 11 NikeTown stores in the U.S. are located only in proven retail centers. The nearest NikeTown to St. Louis is on Michigan Avenue in Chicago.

DeWitt said there has been some "early discussion" about a permanent store at Ballpark Village.

"We’d like to talk with (Nike) about that," he said. "We’ve not gotten very far with them, but it’s a thought."

Kent said Nike doesn’t discuss potential locations of new stores.

The bowling museum opened in 1984 but never reached hoped-for attendance in St. Louis. After announcing last June that it would move to Arlington, Texas, museum officials sold the building in November for $2 million, city records show. The building had been dormant until last month, when the store arrived.

The likely highlight of the temporary store will take place during the three days leading up to the All-Star Game. That’s when Cardinals stars of the past — such as Stan Musial, Ted Simmons, Bruce Sutter — and other baseball greats are scheduled to take part in autograph sessions at the store.

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