Merchandising

[ThreeTimeBilliken]

The Billikens and the A-10 in general fall way behind similar situated colleges as far as available merchandise.

Is the problem with SLU?

The A-10?

It sucks not being able to get all the various stuff to show you are a Billiken fans.

What gives?

[TheA_Bomb]

Best place to get SLU stuff is the Arena Store. You can also get stuff from the SLU bookstore online.

I don't think there is much of a problem anymore and it is not behind schools in similar situations. I live in Ft. Worth and not until the last few years did you see much TCU stuff in the stores. Furthermore, do you see DePaul stuff in sports stores in Chicago? St. John's how much Gonzaga stuff do you see how about the whole Mountain West? SLU used to have a very limited amount of choices but now it is pretty good and the selection at the Arena store and Book store is good.

[slupkt04]

The Billikens and the A-10 in general fall way behind similar situated colleges as far as available merchandise.

Is the problem with SLU?

The A-10?

It sucks not being able to get all the various stuff to show you are a Billiken fans.

What gives?

It's the fringe group of International students that push this "fair trade" and "living wage" doctrine, in accordance to UN Human Rights legislation vis-a-vis the Roman Catholic Church. They've basically forced Biondi's hand in this (God forbid the UNews publish anything slanderous towards our administration). The "Nike" gear we have is basically a Nike shirt from any sporting goods store, with our logo embroidered on. I've been adamantly opposed to this from the get-go, as it would really boost our visibility (which is the whole reason Biondi wanted to join the A-10). In the meantime, I'm just going to have jimbo airbrush a few shirts for me the next time I'm in town.

[TheChosenOne]

Best place to get SLU stuff is the Arena Store. You can also get stuff from the SLU bookstore online.

I don't think there is much of a problem anymore and it is not behind schools in similar situations. I live in Ft. Worth and not until the last few years did you see much TCU stuff in the stores. Furthermore, do you see DePaul stuff in sports stores in Chicago? St. John's how much Gonzaga stuff do you see how about the whole Mountain West? SLU used to have a very limited amount of choices but now it is pretty good and the selection at the Arena store and Book store is good.

I was able to get a Nike hoodie and t-shirt from my high school and unless I worked for the basketball program I would not be able to get similar quality gear from SLU. That seems a little pathetic.

[billiken_roy]

i am very impressed with the merchandise available at the arena store. considering what we had to choose from over the years prior to chaifetz, there is nothing to b!tch about.

[slupkt04]

i am very impressed with the merchandise available at the arena store. considering what we had to choose from over the years prior to chaifetz, there is nothing to b!tch about.

Completely agree with you, Roy! It's a total transformation, but I think what the original post was trying to figure out is why we don't see SLU gear competing with MU, KU and even (gasp) SIU gear in the sporting goods stores or even at the terminals at the Airport! There's always so much Mizzou crap there!

[slupkt04]

I was able to get a Nike hoodie and t-shirt from my high school and unless I worked for the basketball program I would not be able to get similar quality gear from SLU. That seems a little pathetic.

Amen to that.

[Pistol]

It's the fringe group of International students that push this "fair trade" and "living wage" doctrine, in accordance to UN Human Rights legislation vis-a-vis the Roman Catholic Church. They've basically forced Biondi's hand in this (God forbid the UNews publish anything slanderous towards our administration). The "Nike" gear we have is basically a Nike shirt from any sporting goods store, with our logo embroidered on. I've been adamantly opposed to this from the get-go, as it would really boost our visibility (which is the whole reason Biondi wanted to join the A-10). In the meantime, I'm just going to have jimbo airbrush a few shirts for me the next time I'm in town.

If you really believe this is the reason, you need help.

[billiken_roy]

Completely agree with you, Roy! It's a total transformation, but I think what the original post was trying to figure out is why we don't see SLU gear competing with MU, KU and even (gasp) SIU gear in the sporting goods stores or even at the terminals at the Airport! There's always so much Mizzou crap there!

those stores have to want it.

[slupkt04]

If you really believe this is the reason, you need help.

It isn't THE reason, it is one of the reasons, Peter.

[slupkt04]

those stores have to want it.

It probably isn't cost effective for SLU anyway.

[Pistol]

I was able to get a Nike hoodie and t-shirt from my high school and unless I worked for the basketball program I would not be able to get similar quality gear from SLU. That seems a little pathetic.

Agreed, but it isn't just SLU with this problem. There is a very small, select group of programs that have the quality Nike replica stuff available, basically the BCS Nike programs and Gonzaga. I don't know if it's Nike that feels other programs won't move enough units to justify making the stuff, or if the contracts are for team stuff only, or if the other programs just don't have the power to push for it, or what the case is. I posted about this in another thread: http://www.billikens.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=18898

I took advantage of the same deal from our high school, and while that was awesome to be able to get nice stuff with our alma mater's basketball program on it, I think it was a one-off deal and that it wouldn't be available in the bookstore. Still, I think if SLU did something like that, the response would be big enough to where people would want it available all the time.

[Pistol]

It isn't THE reason, it is one of the reasons, Peter.

No it isn't, Metz. When has anyone ever seen this "fringe group of international students" protesting the school's use of Nike? You're making things up so you can broadcast your xenophobia in an entirely unrelated forum. Save it for your little-read (make that non-read) blog.

[slupkt04]

Pistol, if you ever sat in an SGA meeting, you wouldn't even believe how hard the international students push for this. Nike's "alleged" human rights violations is a huge barrier for us not having Nike gear made available to the general public.

I'm not arguing or against the international students...many of these students have seen first hand the sweat shops and do not want these products on campus. It was very educational and moving to see some of their pleas.

[slupkt04]

Not arguing with you at all...just presenting a different side to the argument that I witnessed first hand as an SGA rep. There weren't students picketing outside the BSC, but the protest took heart in the SGA chambers and in the pages of the UNews.

[jimbofive]

I'm not arguing or against the international students...many of these students have seen first hand the sweat shops and do not want these products on campus. It was very educational and moving to see some of their pleas.

People should sweat at work. I mean, don't get me wrong... I don't. Not anymore. But I paid my dues. From a completely uneducated standpoint, sweat shops can cry me a river. Whatever it takes to get boring threads like this closed.

[Pistol]

People should sweat at work. I mean, don't get me wrong... I don't. Not anymore. But I paid my dues. From a completely uneducated standpoint, sweat shops can cry me a river. Whatever it takes to get boring threads like this closed.

This thread completely sucks and got derailed too early. I'm really curious to talk to someone within the AD and find out why SLU and a lot of other schools can't get the nice gear that certain programs get. A pair of authentic game shorts would be nice, and just more options in general.

My girlfriend and her sister (SLU grad and current student) were trying to pick out some stuff in the bookstore and Arena shop when they were in town for the Xavier game this past season, and when she got back here, wouldn't stop complaining that SLU's merchandise is mostly dated, ugly, ill-fitting, and otherwise unwearable. I couldn't really argue with that.

[TXBilliken07]

Not sure if any of you all have been to the bookstore at Dayton, but they had more merchandise than many other schools I've visited. I'm not saying that SLU's merchandise selection needs to rival Notre Dame's colossal mega-store or the bookstore at some huge state school like Texas, but I tend to agree that SLU could do better on this front. I mostly get annoyed walking through campus and seeing tons of other schools' logos (especially Dayton, Xavier, Mizzou, Illiniois, etc.) on hoodies and t-shirts that students are wearing. The bookstore has been getting much better during my 4 years here, and I see a lot more students wearing SLU apparel. I think that if the bookstore sold better stuff that would be enough to satisfy most students. I know I have a lot of fun seeing the looks on peoples' faces when I'm wearing Billiken stuff while I'm home in Dallas over breaks and during the summer!

[ThreeTimeBilliken]

Completely agree with you, Roy! It's a total transformation, but I think what the original post was trying to figure out is why we don't see SLU gear competing with MU, KU and even (gasp) SIU gear in the sporting goods stores or even at the terminals at the Airport! There's always so much Mizzou crap there!

Sorry, I was out of town and couldn't reply.

Yes Roy, you are correct. The SLU Shop is nice.

But I was trying to figure out why we can't compete with MU, KU, Illini, etc.

But I don't understand why the little, odd stuff isn't available as it is for the BCS schools.

You can get just about anything with a "big school" logo on it.

I understand a manufacture isn't going to want to produce stuff that doesn't sell, but you think it would be set up so that we can order it.

If I want a leather Billiken Chair or a Billiken Steak Branding Iron, I should be able to get it.

Hell, I can't even get a fathead vinyl Billiken.

[TheA_Bomb]

We can't compete with THE state universities because they have 3 or 4 times as many students/alumni and about 100 times more fans than SLU. It is all about Money. They sell more units.

[billikenfan05]

Sorry, I was out of town and couldn't reply.

Yes Roy, you are correct. The SLU Shop is nice.

But I was trying to figure out why we can't compete with MU, KU, Illini, etc.

But I don't understand why the little, odd stuff isn't available as it is for the BCS schools.

You can get just about anything with a "big school" logo on it.

I understand a manufacture isn't going to want to produce stuff that doesn't sell, but you think it would be set up so that we can order it.

If I want a leather Billiken Chair or a Billiken Steak Branding Iron, I should be able to get it.

Hell, I can't even get a fathead vinyl Billiken.

There has to be a legitimate demand. If people don't but these things the U loses money. How many people would buy those things? Don't get me wrong I would love to own all of those things and would buy them if they were on the market.

[ThreeTimeBilliken]

There has to be a legitimate demand. If people don't but these things the U loses money. How many people would buy those things? Don't get me wrong I would love to own all of those things and would buy them if they were on the market.

But that's my question.

I understand the number of buyers will be limited.

I don't expect to see these items in stores sitting on shelves with SLU logos on them.

But once the product is developed and produced for a Big 12 school, it cannot be difficult to simply put a Billiken on it instead of a Jayhawk (and it will look much better).

Why can't SLU/A-10 work out a deal with some of these companies where these things are available by special order?

With the way production works today, there is no reason the Billikens couldn't have a catalog with thousands of items of crap like this. Sure, you may have to wait 3-4 weeks to get it, but you should be able to get it.

Seriously, how difficult could it be for FatHead to have it's machine spray a Billiken logo on vinyl instead of a Xavier "X"?

It just seems to meet that there are a whole world of opportunities out there that the Billikens /A-10 are missing out on.

They need to look consider the "goal" here.

A school like SLU should be less concerned with making a profit off of these items.

The goal at this point should be name recognition.

If it were up to me, I would brand everything possible. Even if we don't make a dime, having a Billiken posted everywhere holds value in and of itself.

If we cut these companies a sweet enough deal, they would do it.

[billikenfan05]

But that's my question.

I understand the number of buyers will be limited.

I don't expect to see these items in stores sitting on shelves with SLU logos on them.

But once the product is developed and produced for a Big 12 school, it cannot be difficult to simply put a Billiken on it instead of a Jayhawk (and it will look much better).

Why can't SLU/A-10 work out a deal with some of these companies where these things are available by special order?

With the way production works today, there is no reason the Billikens couldn't have a catalog with thousands of items of crap like this. Sure, you may have to wait 3-4 weeks to get it, but you should be able to get it.

Seriously, how difficult could it be for FatHead to have it's machine spray a Billiken logo on vinyl instead of a Xavier "X"?

It just seems to meet that there are a whole world of opportunities out there that the Billikens /A-10 are missing out on.

They need to look consider the "goal" here.

A school like SLU should be less concerned with making a profit off of these items.

The goal at this point should be name recognition.

If it were up to me, I would brand everything possible. Even if we don't make a dime, having a Billiken posted everywhere holds value in and of itself.

If we cut these companies a sweet enough deal, they would do it.

There are ways of getting a Billiken on a fathead. Just poke around their website and a google image search.

[TheA_Bomb]

The fat head thing could be pretty expensive have you ever gone into a Fedex Kinkos and paid for color copies or had some type of logo made it is expensive.

Knock yourself out, customize your ball at this site:

http://www.amazon.com/SAINT-LOUIS-UNIVERSI...3844&sr=8-5

Lay on a Billiken Rug

http://www.amazon.com/Fan-Mats-Louis-Billi...3991&sr=8-9

[Taj79]

The problem I have is with something like I saw at my daughter's school ...

School colors are what? And yet, I can find hoodies with yellow bodies, green bodies, pink bodies and th elike. And then the writing for the school name is white background with puyrple dots, pink dots, black dotes, tie-dyed dots and other crap on it.

School colors are school colors. Wear them or fah'get'abow'dit! Slightly different take on the diatribe.