Seattle-area stores stocking up on Skittles for Super Bowl sugar rush

With Marshawn Lynch and the Seahawks making final preparations for Sunday’s Super Bowl, Puget Sound-area grocery stores are making sure they don’t get caught short on Beast Mode’s favorite treats.

Last year, stores were caught unprepared for the massive run on Skittles as fans stocked up for their Super Bowl parties, leaving many to find empty shelves ahead of the big game.

Watch: Marshawn Lynch gives offbeat interview in new Skittles commercial

“We were thin, we didn’t know how big it was going to be,” says Andrew Gagner, the store merchandiser for Central Market in Poulsbo.

But this year, Gagner is prepared. As soon as the Seahawks clinched their spot in the Super Bowl, he got on the phone and placed his order.

“We ordered last week so we had plenty of time and they had plenty of stock,” he says.

Some fans got a hold of special Skittles Wednesday that won’t be sold in stores. The company gave out dozens of bags of a limited edition Seattle Mix at CenturyLink Field featuring blue and green candies in honor of Lynch and the Seahawks for the second year in a row. A number of them have already shown up on eBay, with one seller offering a bag for $500 with an accompanying Skittles headband and eye patches.

For those of us content with the regular Skittles that soothe the savage Beast, Gagner won’t reveal how much he actually ordered or plans to sell ahead of the Super Bowl.

“Enough to make Marshawn proud.”