i see charlotte finally droped and 1 and picked up nike are they going to start selling jerseys and shit like the other schools i was just wondering because the uniforms look alot better than last years wnba jerseys
and 1 sucks
truninersfan
[i]Originally posted by truninersfan[/i]@Nov 29 2004, 11:36 PM [b] are they going to start selling jerseys and shit [/b]ill take the jerseys, but the shit!?
haha just messin man, i agree that And 1 sucked. i think Niners gear is going to slowly become more accessible with the switch to Nike
[i]Originally posted by Chisox17+Nov 30 2004, 11:26 AM-->
[b]QUOTE[/b] (Chisox17 @ Nov 30 2004, 11:26 AM)
There is a director of licensing that works at the University. I have no idea who that is, but this is excatly the type of issue he/she should hear. And they should hear it LOUDLY if we care as much as I think we do. Usually, this office/person blames the vendors/manufacturers, and the vendors blame the manufacturers/licencing people at the school. It’s basicly a 3 way pointing match.
This is one that will take a lot to overcome. We need at least as much consistent focus as we’ve shown with the Observer. Daily emails, calls, inquiries, petitions, etc. I’d advise going into this that you expect our first dozen attempts to utterly fail. The only way anything will change is if we keep after these people on a daily/weekly basis, and never let up. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.
It wouldn’t hurt if the Niners made a deep postseason run either. But we can’t control that. We can only call, write, etc.
I think a couple of phone calls could start the ball rolling by getting the contact info for the nameless people I’ve mentioned. We can go from there as a group.
I think our bookstore is more to blame than anything. I went in there before the Rutgers game and the crap they have in there is pathetic. Are they aware that our athletic team are the “Charlotte 49ers” now. It’s only been that way for about five years now. Whoever runs that place should be ashamed of themselves. There is no excuse to them not having Nike gear in there. I haven’t been in Gray’s or Campus sports in some time to see if they have anything decent.
On a side note, I work part-time at the Finish Line in Pineville a couple of nights a week for a little extra cash. We have several good looking Charlotte T’s there and a good looking hoodie. The hoodies are $20 and the T-shirts are 2 for $20 or something like that. We also have a good looking Charlotte hat with the C pick axe. Would make excellent Christmas gifts or just a good looking gift for yourself.
I really thought this situation would get better with the switch to Nike. Why is it still such a problem? There is obviously a demand for this stuff which means there is money to be made. It seems like someone would want to take advantage of that.
NA, count me in on the email campaign… let us know if you come up with any names/email addresses where we can start.
[i]Originally posted by NinerAdvocate[/i]@Nov 30 2004, 12:33 PM [b] There is a director of licensing that works at the University. I have no idea who that is, but this is excatly the type of issue he/she should hear. And they should hear it LOUDLY if we care as much as I think we do. Usually, this office/person blames the vendors/manufacturers, and the vendors blame the manufacturers/licencing people at the school. It's basicly a 3 way pointing match.This is one that will take a lot to overcome. We need at least as much consistent focus as we’ve shown with the Observer. Daily emails, calls, inquiries, petitions, etc. I’d advise going into this that you expect our first dozen attempts to utterly fail. The only way anything will change is if we keep after these people on a daily/weekly basis, and never let up. Squeaky wheel gets the grease.
It wouldn’t hurt if the Niners made a deep postseason run either. But we can’t control that. We can only call, write, etc.
I think a couple of phone calls could start the ball rolling by getting the contact info for the nameless people I’ve mentioned. We can go from there as a group. [/b]
The person in charge of licensing is Jo Prophit. Her number is 687-2413. Her email is jnprophi@email.uncc.edu
Thanks NA, I looked for that person and had no clue where to start.
Email sent.
[i]Originally posted by N1NER[/i]@Nov 30 2004, 01:44 PM [b] I think our bookstore is more to blame than anything. I went in there before the Rutgers game and the crap they have in there is pathetic. Are they aware that our athletic team are the "Charlotte 49ers" now. It's only been that way for about five years now. Whoever runs that place should be ashamed of themselves. There is no excuse to them not having Nike gear in there. I haven't been in Gray's or Campus sports in some time to see if they have anything decent.On a side note, I work part-time at the Finish Line in Pineville a couple of nights a week for a little extra cash. We have several good looking Charlotte T’s there and a good looking hoodie. The hoodies are $20 and the T-shirts are 2 for $20 or something like that. We also have a good looking Charlotte hat with the C pick axe. Would make excellent Christmas gifts or just a good looking gift for yourself. [/b]
I feel exactly the same way about the campus bookstore. Campus Sports has a great selection of charlotte gear (personally I like UNC Charlotte). The problem with Campus Sports is the fact that is should be called Campus Frat. They have more Frat gear than sports gear, yet the best selection around.
The thing that gets me is the lack of 49er gear at Concord Mills. I would think that place would be pack to the gills with green and gold.
I am sure Eastbay will have 49er shorts and jerseys by the end of the season.
[i]Originally posted by N1NER[/i]@Nov 30 2004, 12:44 PM [b] We have several good looking Charlotte T's there and a good looking hoodie. The hoodies are $20 and the T-shirts are 2 for $20 or something like that. We also have a good looking Charlotte hat with the C pick axe. Would make excellent Christmas gifts or just a good looking gift for yourself. [/b]Does the Finish line have anything in a 3T size? I went to the bookstore, found a nice Charlotte sweatshirt but they didn't have many toddler/children sizes to choose from.
Has anyone found good stuff for the little Niner people?
The Finish Line stuff is for adults. I haven’t seen kids stuff there before. The only places I’ve seen Charlotte kids gear is Campus, Gray’s and hats at Lids.
[i]Originally posted by Smoothieking[/i]@Nov 30 2004, 01:23 PM [b] The person in charge of licensing is Jo Prophit. Her number is 687-2413. Her email is [email]jnprophi@email.uncc.edu[/email] [/b]Nice work Smoothie. Email sent.
[b]Does the Finish line have anything in a 3T size? I went to the bookstore, found a nice Charlotte sweatshirt but they didn't have many toddler/children sizes to choose from.Has anyone found good stuff for the little Niner people?[/b]
Unfortunately no toddler gear, only adult.
clt saw a girl wearing a black hoode that read “charlotte” and had the c looking thing. where can you get this?
email has been sent… 
The emails are great. I’m working on mine now.
On the issue of gear though - it’s not just about getting any gear. We are on board with Nike Elite now, so whether or not they are (fully) sponsoring us, it still should be possible to get actual and replica Nike Elite game jerseys, coaches/golf shirts, warmups, etc.
I wanna be able to walk into Champs or the Finish Line and pickup any of the above items. The other Nike Elite schools are all available locally.
[i]Originally posted by cltniners[/i]@Nov 30 2004, 02:32 PM [b] clt saw a girl wearing a black hoode that read "charlotte" and had the c looking thing. where can you get this? [/b]I saw some of those at Carolina Mall last night (Pineville). I can't remember the name of the store... I think it was Champs.
girls hoodies? unisex? details? pictures?
Hey guys, I took the liberty of talking with Jo Prophit, in our licensing office this afternoon to try and get to the bottom of this process. I asked Jo to send her findings to me in an email so that I could post them here. Jo is a Charlotte Alum and is on our side on this issue. She too would like to see more of our gear in stores. I hope that this info helps explain the situation.
Nick,
Getting our stuff into retail outlets is an interesting process. It’s a chicken vs the egg issue. Collegiate licensed items have a much smaller profit margin than something like Tommy Hilfiger or even plain Nike. So to justify bringing in any college’s stuff, retailers want to know that the stuff will sell. As a school that is classified an emerging institution, we don’t always have the statistics of sell through rates they need to justify it.
We are working with Collegiate Licensing Company to provide incentives to retailers. They were successful in getting Belk’s to carry some high end clothing last year. Belk’s is pleased with sells and has re-ordered which is a good sign. Collegiate Licensing Company also has a virtual tradeshow where retailers can quickly identify companies who produce logo items for any school. It is free to the retailer. There are 8 pages of items listed for UNC Charlotte. Everything from clothing to tailgating stools.
Manufacturers have to be licensed to produce items with any university’s logos. We have an ever growing number of companies (over 100) with a wide array of products currently licensed to apply our logo. Nike is licensed to apply our logo in 16 categories. They have been licensed since 1999 but have submitted a single design-a hat with the Wolfpack logo on it. The University cannot make a manufacturer send a product to market. A company will only market what it considers to be profitable lines. National companies, like Nike, have traditionally concentrated their efforts on nationally known schools, like Chapel Hill, Alabama, Michigan, Tennessee, etc.
Another problem with getting into stores is that national and regional chains have centralized purchasing agents. These agents again concentrate their efforts on nationally know schools and strong regional favorites. This is why Belk’s decision to carry our gear is such a big deal. It means we are finally getting recognition in a larger market.
The biggest boost to getting more gear out there is a strong athletic presence. When we went into 3 overtimes with Chapel Hill in the NCAA tournament several years ago, there was a 21% increase in wholesale sales of our logo items. The fact that the sales have remained at this higher level ever since is indeed a sign that we are no longer a small, obscure school but truly an emerging institution.
The bottom line is, short of a national title, the consumer must let the purchasing agents for retailers know that they are interested in seeing our stuff in their stores. The more customers ask (the right people-not the sales clerks), the better the chance of the retailer buying our products.
Hope this helps shed some light on the process.
Jo
Absolutely excellent email from Jo. I appreciate the candor.
It sounds like we need to do two things to have any real success:
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contact the buying reps for local chains. i’m sure that these retailers won’t give out contact info for these folks willingly, but i know from experience that some guerilla tactics and “social engineering” can go a long way to getting in front of these people. having a canned letter/statement from a large, organized group of our fans to present them with would go a long way i think. something assertive but not confrontational in tone.
-
contact the nike rep for our area. it seems like NinerAl had some experience with the And1 rep and perhaps he’d be willing to share how he got that person’s name so we can follow the same avenue to get the Nike rep’s name & phone #/email address, because frankly…
[b]Nike is licensed to apply our logo in 16 categories. They have been licensed since 1999 but have submitted a single design-a hat with the Wolfpack logo on it. [/b]
…that is embarassing and unacceptable. Someone is asleep at the wheel over there. Time to wake them up. There’s a solid market here.