As you all know, our University has the worst apparel deal imaginable with Barnes and Noble. Literally someone who is much more concerned with textbooks (as they should be) is making our merchandising decisions. Athletics online store also pulls from the bookstore inventory. The University has the option to renew this deal in the coming months. Please, reach out to whatever decision makers you know to let them know that we HATE the deal between B&N and the University from an athletics merchandising perspective.
pdubois@uncc.edu is a fantastic email to reach out to, and he always loves to hear from invested alums!
I just had a meeting at the University in the Student Union and stopped by the bookstore for a new store before I left. The selection is awful and I left without buying anything. I could not believe how bad it was
Seems like their Nike inventory is lower than ever before. In fact a lot of their inventory right now seems to be less popular sizes too. I know they did a sale last month that ran it down but I’ve never seen it like this before. Something has to be going on behind the scenes.
Hell no, I would not buy those, especially at $50 a pop. They aren’t even Nike or anything either. They are prob online only bc ppl prob dont purchase them that often and they are made to order thru Prosphere.
I just googled “Clemson Nike Polo” and four of the first five that showed were under $60. Our gear is too expensive. People say crap like “you have to pay for quality.” The reality is no, a Polo shouldnt cost $90.
Then we wonder why our students sport other team’s gear around campus. Meanwhile anywhere discount apparel shows up (platos closet, ebay, etc) It sells out in an obscene hurry. Take 704 shop shirts for example. 30 bucks for a t shirt is downright crazy, but they sold out because our fan base has little gear available anywhere at a reasonable price. I know many say it’s overselling it, but I truly think it’s one of the main reasons our U has an identity crisis.
I wish we could have a team store on campus and online ran by Fanatics. I personally think they do a great job marketing their schools and the interface is very user friendly. Always have promo codes running and just seems like a solid and reputable company.
Any updates? I believe 3/15 is the deadline for renewing for another year. 6/30 being the last day that B&N has rights to sell merchandise; if we don’t renew.
If we do renew with B&N again, Mike Hill really dropped the ball on this one. Our lack of apparel, specifically online, is baffling. No team store (brick and mortar) at Halton or at the FB stadium is inexcusable. Hopefully, by August, all these issues will be rectified.
I’m not FOIA’ing until after 3/15. We could renew but alter structure for Athletics to have their own presence in Halton/Jerry Richardson + Online. I’d be OK with that.
I hope the Athletic Department can get out from under the umbrella of B&N. Fanatics managing online and a presence at our Athletic venues should happen. They have to get their online presence sorted out, at the very least. Along with going full on C-Pick and retiring all other insignia logos.