Stupidity or Ignorance, not sure which it is?

FirefightnRick · December 21, 2005

While having some work done on my new truck yesterday the wife and I traveled to several area Malls from Hulen in southwest Ft Worth to Grapevine Mills. I know there is a fine line between stupidity and ignorance at times so I'm not sure which it is that local merchants are displaying when it comes to supply Mean Green gear this Christmas shopping season?

At Hulen there's a guy selling indoor household floor mats and also truck mats. I asked if he had any NT mats and he did, only one of each(they come in pairs) but it was the Orange and Blue circle-star logo. I asked if he had any more and he didn't, these were the last ones. Just as I was about to walk off a man standing behind me asked if I was going to buy them and I said no. He then told the man that he would take both sets. His daughter was currently attending NT and he had never seen the mats before. The floor mats were the same ones the Mean Green club gave out last year. So now the mat sales guy has nothing left the rest of the week for NT.

I then go up to the Lidz store. They had ONE NT hat left. It was the white with the green "Son of Worm" and green stripes on it. One left in the store.

I then go to the footlocker. They had a bin with stacks of regular T shirts of all the major colleges including one fairly decent looking NT shirt. Here is a photo of it.

NT T Shirt

I'm not making this up. There were at least 25 to 30 shirts in each of the other schools. But they only had 4 left of the NT shirts. All t shirst were on sale for 2 for $20. They now only have 2 left. But before I walked out I asked the store manager if they had any more. He stated this was all they had, that he can't keep them in stock. I asked why he doesn't stock more for Christmas? He said the store doesn't order stock, that the head office in New York does. He's requested more but had no idea when or if he would get any more in. He gave me a number to call if I wanted to. Amazing!

I get to Grapevine Mills and go to the lidz there. They had several of the old Daffy eagle hats by zephyr and several of the Parrot Eagle hats by zephyr. I asked if they had any others with the new logos and he pointed out that they had one of the new (Son of Worm) logo hats on the other side of the store. Sure enough, they had Top of the World's(Thank you Greenstock) Black Out series with the Son of Worm on the front and Mean Green on back in the new font. They had one left so I bought it. They also had two of Zephyr's Trucker series hats with their original X Line version for North Texas, the one with the mean looking Eagle on the front of it. Again, (Thank you Greenstock), so I bought one of those too. Now they only have one of those left as well.

Finally I go over to Steve and Berry's. What a disaster that place is. Looks like a J.C. Penney's outlet after a tornado hit. Everything, sweatshirts, t shirts and cheaply made letter jackets are all one price, $7.89 and the line was at least 25 yards long to get to the register. They had two t shirts for North Texas. One with just a plain "NORTH TEXAS" printed across it, the other with "NORTH TEXAS" in a baseball type cursive font across it. They also had a hooded sweatshirt with the plain "NORTH TEXAS" across it. I found three of those left. But they had nothing in the aplique sewn-on hoodies for NT like they had for Texas State. They have bins and bins full of Texas State stuff. And they had nothing in the new font for NT either. I didn't/couldn't buy anything from there because of the line.

So I'm not sure who to blame for a lack of gear supply in the metroplex, the merchants or our school? The gear is available or you wouldn't be able to find any of it anywhere. But it's amazing that here at Christmas time where it's possibly safe to say that 2 out of 10 college age, or college connected people who walk through a merchants door will be affililiated with NT in some fashion yet the merchants seem to choose to ignore their own chance for a sale?

Rick

Edited December 21, 2005 by FirefightnRick

Mad Hatter · December 21, 2005

Nice to hear it's selling well though.

Eagle1855 · December 21, 2005

Nice to hear it's selling well though.
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that depends on how much they order in relation to UT, A&M, OU, TT etc... Id be willing to bet its substantially less.

I cant find a single item in Houston, I guess i should expect that?

Edited December 21, 2005 by Eagle1855

FirefightnRick · December 21, 2005

that depends on how much they order in relation to UT, A&M, OU, TT etc... Id be willing to bet its substantially less.
I cant find a single item in Houston, I guess i should expect that?
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True. And going by what I am seeing they don't mind stockpiling tU everything, some looking as if they have way over ordered and don't mind doing so. If that's the case then what is the harm in doing the same on a smaller scale for other schools, mainly the largest one that is nearby?

Rick

Stan R · December 21, 2005

Rick you must have been at Grapevine Mills the same day I was - the line was about 50 people long! But at least you found the NT gear. I looked all over the place and found just about every other univeristy in Texas but NT.

TIgreen01 · December 21, 2005

True. And going by what I am seeing they don't mind stockpiling tU everything, some looking as if they have way over ordered and don't mind doing so. If that's the case then what is the harm in doing the same on a smaller scale for other schools, mainly the largest one that is nearby?
Rick
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Well, you said in your first post that one of the store's purchasing offices was in New York. I would expect someone from New York to know about UT and tamu...and possibly Ttech. I would not expect them to know the location of any of those schools inside the state of Texas....or even to know that North Texas was located near Dallas--and not in the panhandle. Ok....this is probably a gross stereotype, but seriously...how many people have asked you, "where is North Texas, exactly?"

To me, this year it has been easier to find NT gear in area stores than ever before. I remember when I first started at NT ('96) that I couldn't find any decent NT stuff anywhere but Denton....well, not even Denton, but mainly ON CAMPUS. Am I delusional or has it gotten better?

I agree that it's a problem that many of these places are near sold out, but if they were really turning the sales (enough to warrant always having shelves full of NT gear) the purchasing rep would pay attention to those sales figures and make sure that certain stores always had inventory. I think the real problem is that we are still not selling enough to make these vendors really care about always stocking NT gear.

j0nat8an · December 21, 2005

Well, you said in your first post that one of the store's purchasing offices was in New York. I would expect someone from New York to know about UT and tamu...and possibly Ttech. I would not expect them to know the location of any of those schools inside the state of Texas....or even to know that North Texas was located near Dallas--and not in the panhandle. Ok....this is probably a gross stereotype, but seriously...how many people have asked you, "where is North Texas, exactly?"
To me, this year it has been easier to find NT gear in area stores than ever before. I remember when I first started at NT ('96) that I couldn't find any decent NT stuff anywhere but Denton....well, not even Denton, but mainly ON CAMPUS. Am I delusional or has it gotten better?
I agree that it's a problem that many of these places are near sold out, but if they were really turning the sales (enough to warrant always having shelves full of NT gear) the purchasing rep would pay attention to those sales figures and make sure that certain stores always had inventory. I think the real problem is that we are still not selling enough to make these vendors really care about always stocking NT gear.
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i think it's going to be just like support for athletics. as the base of students grows, so will the support for athletics and the university (in attendance and merch.). there are a lot of NT shirts and hats seen around campus (i've noticed and increase in the last 2 1/2 yrs), but every student basically will buy from the bookstore or voertmans. once all of us students start leaving campus and having to buy our stuff elsewhere, that's when it will take off. maybe i'm wrong, who knows?

ADLER · December 21, 2005

If the stuff was available in shopping malls it would be selling well during the Christmas season. Everyone's mother would buy their kid a sweatshirt of his/her college as a gift if it was readily available, especially at $7.98 each.

Steve and Barry's at Grapevine has a unique method of maintaining stock. They don't get too much North Texas gear but they do have an awful lot of customers wanting to buy it.

So that they don't have to explain why their out, and when they'll be getting more, the North Texas stuff is 'hidden' away from the other college stuff on the other side of the store where jeans and other non-collegiate clothing is kept.

The manager outright told me "We don't get many North Texas sweatshirts. If we put them somewhere out on display, we would sell out too quickly. We put them over here so we don't run out."

TIgreen01 · December 21, 2005

i think it's going to be just like support for athletics. as the base of students grows, so will the support for athletics and the university (in attendance and merch.). there are a lot of NT shirts and hats seen around campus (i've noticed and increase in the last 2 1/2 yrs), but every student basically will buy from the bookstore or voertmans. once all of us students start leaving campus and having to buy our stuff elsewhere, that's when it will take off. maybe i'm wrong, who knows?
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Good point...but I think the whole key is that the current generation of students is not going to keep buying NT gear once they graduate if our football team stops winning games and going to bowls. We've had a (usually Div 1-A caliber) football team throughout our history, but the last 4 years have done alot to get people's attention. I think that's probably why it's easier to find NT gear outside of Denton now...b/c we're growing the fanbase and waking up alums. If every UNT alum always continued to buy UNT gear, we wouldn't be in the situation that FFR describes....b/c the demand for our gear in DFW would always be extremely high simply b/c of the sheer number of alums still in the area. The problem is that most of our alums don't have any reason to keep track of UNT--and thus, keep buying new shirts/hats/whatever. We never used to have tailgating...games were not all that fun through the 80s and 90s (unless you were a diehard football fan)...the bowl games the last 4 years have been something for people to pay attention to. The tailgating and game atmosphere is a blast now and helps make up for sometimes bad games. But the bottom line is that you have to have kids develop a connection to the school somehow, and for whatever reason, through the years UNT has not been very good at doing that. The easiest way to develop that bond is through keeping kids on/near campus....the easiest way to do that is to have big football games on campus. We're doing that now and hopefully we'll keep it up....so yes, to respond to your post, maybe there will be a difference once your generation graduates.

Sorry for the soapbox like moment there.

Eagle1855 · December 21, 2005

Steve and Barry's at Grapevine has a unique method of maintaining stock. They don't get too much North Texas gear but they do have an awful lot of customers wanting to buy it.
So that they don't have to explain why their out, and when they'll be getting more, the North Texas stuff is 'hidden' away from the other college stuff on the other side of the store where jeans and other non-collegiate clothing is kept.
The manager outright told me "We don't get many North Texas sweatshirts. If we put them somewhere out on display, we would sell out too quickly. We put them over here so we don't run out."
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am I the only one who is confused as to why they couldnt just order more stuff and in turn (at least in principle) make more money? What am I missing?

TIgreen01 · December 21, 2005

If the stuff was available in shopping malls it would be selling well during the Christmas season. Everyone's mother would buy their kid a sweatshirt of his/her college as a gift if it was readily available, especially at $7.98 each.
Steve and Barry's at Grapevine has a unique method of maintaining stock. They don't get too much North Texas gear but they do have an awful lot of customers wanting to buy it.
So that they don't have to explain why their out, and when they'll be getting more, the North Texas stuff is 'hidden' away from the other college stuff on the other side of the store where jeans and other non-collegiate clothing is kept.
The manager outright told me "We don't get many North Texas sweatshirts. If we put them somewhere out on display, we would sell out too quickly. We put them over here so we don't run out."
←

That's easily the dumbest businessman I've ever heard of if what you say is true. I revert back to my original post on this...if people were REALLY buying the heck out of the UNT stuff, you can bet your house that the purchasing people would stock more of it.

j0nat8an · December 21, 2005

Good point...but I think the whole key is that the current generation of students is not going to keep buying NT gear once they graduate if our football team stops winning games and going to bowls. We've had a (usually Div 1-A caliber) football team throughout our history, but the last 4 years have done alot to get people's attention. I think that's probably why it's easier to find NT gear outside of Denton now...b/c we're growing the fanbase and waking up alums. If every UNT alum always continued to buy UNT gear, we wouldn't be in the situation that FFR describes....b/c the demand for our gear in DFW would always be extremely high simply b/c of the sheer number of alums still in the area. The problem is that most of our alums don't have any reason to keep track of UNT--and thus, keep buying new shirts/hats/whatever. We never used to have tailgating...games were not all that fun through the 80s and 90s (unless you were a diehard football fan)...the bowl games the last 4 years have been something for people to pay attention to. The tailgating and game atmosphere is a blast now and helps make up for sometimes bad games. But the bottom line is that you have to have kids develop a connection to the school somehow, and for whatever reason, through the years UNT has not been very good at doing that. The easiest way to develop that bond is through keeping kids on/near campus....the easiest way to do that is to have big football games on campus. We're doing that now and hopefully we'll keep it up....so yes, to respond to your post, maybe there will be a difference once your generation graduates.
Sorry for the soapbox like moment there.
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you expanded my exact thoughts. as the current students (hopefully) grow attached the the university (through athletics and RV's orientation speaches) hopefully the market will expand.

FirefightnRick · December 24, 2005

That's easily the dumbest businessman I've ever heard of if what you say is true. I revert back to my original post on this...if people were REALLY buying the heck out of the UNT stuff, you can bet your house that the purchasing people would stock more of it.
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Employees at Lidz at Hulen, Grapevine Mills and Ridgemar Malls, Footlocker and Champs sports at Hulen and several independant vendors in between, at times have told me "That's all we have left", or, "I've sold out of North Texas, I can't keep it in stock", or, "We can't get North Texas gear and I don't know why?". Many of these businesses know "where North Texas is". Outside the metroplex, I'll give them a pass, but there is no excuse within the DFW area for them not to plan ahead and have it readily available. No excuse at all.

As ADLER and I have suggested for many years now, whenever you get the chance, ask for it before you walk out. I just bought an '05 Ford F150 4x4 CrewCab pickup, picked it up last Tuesday from Peyton Wright Ford in Grapevine. But prior to that I had been shopping around on the internet for it. I had sold my old chevy truck so I had cash to put down on a new one. I had that and had a retainer from my credit union in my pocket one day when I went over to Texas Motors Ford on West Loop 820 in Fort Worth to look at a truck a guy had called me about earlier in the day. With the price of gas and due to the incredible rebates Ford is offering right now, it's obvious the Truck people are hurting a bit to move their trucks. When I got to Texas Motors, out front were two special order F150 Trucks parked under the porch. One was the Texas Longhorn Special, the other the Texas Aggie Special and standing in front of both trucks were 4 salesmen including the Truck Fleet manager. I took advantage of the opportunity to have some fun and possibly make a point. I pulled out the retainer and with cash in hand I walked up and introduced myself to the manager, shook his hand and told him I was shopping for a truck and then asked him where the North Texas Mean Green Special was? All four of them had the shittiest look on the their faces and didn't say a word. The manager then nervously laughed it off and stated that Ford didn't offer a North Texas package "yet". I didn't crack a smile, I just looked at him and said "Your kidding me, I thought they did. That's too bad, I'd take it home today", and those of you who know me, know I would have. I then simply walked on by and into the front door behind them and found the salesman that had called me. Now, I'm not sure if they took me serious on my offer to by a North Texas Special or not? But I promise you for a second they were at a loss for words in not knowing how to respond and looked as if they wished Ford did offer it. If nothing else I enjoyed the faces they made when I said it.

"Crazy North Texas Mean Green fans, who do they think they are?"

Rick

NT91 · December 24, 2005

I love it!!!!!!!!!!!!

SilverEagle · December 24, 2005

Employees at Lidz at Hulen, Grapevine Mills and Ridgemar Malls, Footlocker and Champs sports at Hulen and several independant vendors in between, at times have told me "That's all we have left", or, "I've sold out of North Texas, I can't keep it in stock", or, "We can't get North Texas gear and I don't know why?". Many of these businesses know "where North Texas is". Outside the metroplex, I'll give them a pass, but there is no excuse within the DFW area for them not to plan ahead and have it readily available. No excuse at all.
As ADLER and I have suggested for many years now, whenever you get the chance, ask for it before you walk out. I just bought an '05 Ford F150 4x4 CrewCab pickup, picked it up last Tuesday from Peyton Wright Ford in Grapevine. But prior to that I had been shopping around on the internet for it. I had sold my old chevy truck so I had cash to put down on a new one. I had that and had a retainer from my credit union in my pocket one day when I went over to Texas Motors Ford on West Loop 820 in Fort Worth to look at a truck a guy had called me about earlier in the day. With the price of gas and due to the incredible rebates Ford is offering right now, it's obvious the Truck people are hurting a bit to move their trucks. When I got to Texas Motors, out front were two special order F150 Trucks parked under the porch. One was the Texas Longhorn Special, the other the Texas Aggie Special and standing in front of both trucks were 4 salesmen including the Truck Fleet manager. I took advantage of the opportunity to have some fun and possibly make a point. I pulled out the retainer and with cash in hand I walked up and introduced myself to the manager, shook his hand and told him I was shopping for a truck and then asked him where the North Texas Mean Green Special was? All four of them had the shittiest look on the their faces and didn't say a word. The manager then nervously laughed it off and stated that Ford didn't offer a North Texas package "yet". I didn't crack a smile, I just looked at him and said "Your kidding me, I thought they did. That's too bad, I'd take it home today", and those of you who know me, know I would have. I then simply walked on by and into the front door behind them and found the salesman that had called me. Now, I'm not sure if they took me serious on my offer to by a North Texas Special or not? But I promise you for a second they were at a loss for words in not knowing how to respond and looked as if they wished Ford did offer it. If nothing else I enjoyed the faces they made when I said it.
"Crazy North Texas Mean Green fans, who do they think they are?"
Rick
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You know, having some pinstriping and/or stickers made for a NORTH TEXAS SPECIAL truck wouldn't be hard at all.

But Rick, I'll tell you one good reason why there is probably never going to be any "NORTH TEXAS SPECIAL" truck packages. If a dealership wanted to produce one, then they would have to deal with the North Texas branding dept AND CLC.

Nuff said.

Edited December 24, 2005 by SilverEagle

Arkstfan · December 24, 2005

Rick your low inventory rant could be substituted for a lot of teams. One business in Jonesboro would keep a light inventory of ASU and large inventory of UA. When cornered they would say, they sell more UA. Finally someone asked them to look at how long their ASU inventory was staying on the rack. Duh, if you order 5X more Hog stuff than ASU and the ASU stuff sells out long before the UA stuff, you aren't ordering enough ASU in the first place.

Likewise UNT is generally not going to sell well compared to UT, TAMU and the Cowboys but if they are selling out the UNT shipment before those others, they are under-ordering.

WARNING. THIS post made under the influence of drugs for my cold and impacted wisdom tooth, I make no guarantee it makes it any sense.

flyonthewall · December 25, 2005

I donated all of the mats last year for the mean green club. We can't get any more mats like that manufactured because the marks have changed again. I have about twenty left if anyone is interested in buying them. I am considering going through the process of getting them redesigned. It took about six weeks last year to get the design through the marketing dept. and then CLC. I then ordered 500 which took about six weeks to get manufactured. My second order was for 250 as more people joined the Mean Green Club than anticipated at the particular donation level intended for the mats. Anyway, I have the mats for sale at my floorcovering store for $28.