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Post by AustinHoya03 on Aug 30, 2006 12:34:50 GMT -5
One thing I neglected to mention earlier. You can buy UT gear at a lot of different places around Austin, but nothing tops the UT bookstore/Co-Op. The Co-Op's new location is an old Barnes & Noble on Guadalupe Street, a major street that runs along the west side of the main campus. Think M Street but not as nice. Everyone in town knows where the Co-Op is, most people drive by on a fairly regular basis, and a lot of people stop in before/after football season to pick up new shirts.
So maybe GU should look into the possibility of renting space on M or Wisconsin and opening a bookstore outlet. If this were combined with upgrading the merchandise, there is so much walking traffic on those streets, especially during the weekends, that there's virtually no way the University wouldn't profit (though GU has surprised me in the past). Think about it: if GU wins the BE conference next season, how many people are going to trek up to the University to buy a BE Champs t-shirt? Most would probably order one online. However, if there were a place in the city, close to where you were already going Saturday afternoon, where you knew you could find a bunch of quality GU gear, wouldn't you go there?
Of course we all know the real reason UT is #1 in merchandising. It's those black jerseys the 'Horns roundball team unveiled at the Duke game. Ha.
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Post by hilltopper2000 on Aug 30, 2006 12:58:19 GMT -5
Austin -- That's a pretty great idea. It could definitely appeal to tourists. There are a number of unoccupied stores on M St. that could work -- nothing as big as UT's co-op, but we wouldn't want that anyway.
"Think M Street but not as nice." made me chuckle. That's a very kind way to describe Guadalupe.
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Post by AustinHoya03 on Aug 30, 2006 17:39:15 GMT -5
Perhaps I should have said: "Think M street covered in slime and populated by drag rats." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_ratThrow in a few head shops and some very sketchy bars and you've got it. Seriously, though, I think GU could benefit with more exposure in the Georgetown shopping area. Every time I visit, Wisconsin and M get nicer and there are more and more people walking around on Saturday afternoon. I also think the University could work out a percentage lease pretty easily if the cash-on-hand problem is an issue.
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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Aug 30, 2006 21:42:37 GMT -5
Even if we're not talking M Street, they can start by making University gear more prominent period. As a rule, I don't buy from the bookstore, so that leaves the Yates store. To be honest, probably 1% of the local population knows about it. Even a location like Sugars would improve upon that.
Perhaps they could work out a deal with existing stores as "officially licensed vendors" of GU gear, although I know less than nothing about the logistics of that. As we well know, GU is reluctant to spend money to make money so this could be a good compromise if it is workable.
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Post by HoyaTejano on Sept 1, 2006 14:47:46 GMT -5
This is partly a Nike problem, partly a university problem. Nike has never really made a full national push for Hoyas gear. It's hard to find any GU apparel outside of the mid-Atlantic. I remember wanting a really cool blue/black GU cap with the Block G with the blue basketball in it back in 1996 after I was admitted. It was impossible to find, even after I visited campus.
UT's marketing is at a pro level. The licensing reflects the popularity of the teams. In turn, that popularity feeds donations for facilities.
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GUHoya07
Diamond Hoya (over 2500 posts)
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Post by GUHoya07 on Sept 3, 2006 20:36:16 GMT -5
We're now wearing Nike football uni's, which I was happy to see the other day. Its nice to see the AD getting Nike to finally make a commitment to all our programs.
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Post by HoyaSinceBirth on Sept 3, 2006 22:30:33 GMT -5
we wear nike soccer stuff for the first time this year as well
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1789
Century (over 100 posts)
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Post by 1789 on Sept 28, 2006 8:51:04 GMT -5
For those who don't remember the ubiquitous Georgetown gear of the late 80's-90's check out the critically acclaimed documentary Hoop Dreams (1994) on DVD. Scenes include Nike camps attended by John Thompson, recruits reading letters from Georgetown University, and Georgetown splashed all over the screen as the preferred gear of the two stars of the film.
The filming of this movie predates the popularity of the internet and indicates that Georgetown was a huge part of American culture during that time, despite mass marketing outlets of today. It was genuine, and it was grass roots.
JT III said "some have forgotten we will remind them." For those of us on this board who may have been too young to really know what JTIII was talking about check out Hoop Dreams, not only is one of the best films of the 1990's and a must see for any basketball fan, but also it's a reminder of the huge influence Georgetown and John Thompson had on a generation of Americans.
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lichoya68
Blue & Gray (over 10,000 posts)
OK YOUNGINS ARE HERE AND ARE VERY VERY GOOD cant wait GO HOYAS
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Post by lichoya68 on Sept 28, 2006 11:17:22 GMT -5
hey when we win they will follow we are georgetown and wereeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee backkkkkkkkkkkkkkk go hoyas ;D ;D ;D ;D
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DrumsGoBang
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
DrumsGoBang - Bang Bang
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Post by DrumsGoBang on Sept 29, 2006 11:38:28 GMT -5
I was just at lunch on M street. A few young girls were eating at a table next to mine. They must have been part of one of the those high school groups that take you to Washington. One of the girls asked me where in Georgetown that she should buy a Georgetown Sweatshirt. I thought about it and couldn't think of any close by accept for the bookstore. (Actually the CVS sells cheap stuff) When I told them where the bookstore was, they said that was too far. I guess the cost of a storefront on M street has gotten so expensive that no place can make money selling Georgetown stuff and other tourist crap. I remember that there used to a place on Wisconsin, and another place in Georgetown Park but I guess those places are gone now. The University really needs to market themselves better and get a place to sell everything to the tourist on M street. Although I hate GW, it would actually make sense for a store on M street to sell both GW and Georgetown stuff. GW doesn't really have a place to sell their crap other then their bookstore either. Of course no one wants to wear GW clothes anyways.
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Post by jerseyhoya34 on Sept 29, 2006 19:19:13 GMT -5
GW can sell their stuff out of the State Annex for all I care, not on M Street.
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CAHoya07
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Post by CAHoya07 on Oct 1, 2006 9:35:21 GMT -5
DrumsGoBang, there are actually a couple stores on M and Wisconsin where you can buy Georgetown apparel. They're basically like our bookstore, slightly lower quality, but cheaper.
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DrumsGoBang
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Post by DrumsGoBang on Oct 2, 2006 8:31:02 GMT -5
Where might these stores be? I work in Georgetown, and most of those places have closed down. There is nothing on M street anymore. There used to be a place in Georgetown Park but that closed down too. I think there is still one place up on Wisconsin inbetween all the crazy suit stores that sell orange three-piece suits, but nothing much. Everything in Georgetown is becoming so fancy you can't even pee in public anymore without some snooty looks from people in their BMW's.
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JimmyHoya
Golden Hoya (over 1000 posts)
Hoya fan, est. 1986
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Post by JimmyHoya on Oct 2, 2006 10:51:11 GMT -5
There's a tshirt shop across from the parking lot entrance to Georgetown Park mall.
There's the sketchy flea-market bazaar like place on M after the Chipotle but before Wisconsin.
CVS has random G'town stuff as well.
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DrumsGoBang
Silver Hoya (over 500 posts)
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Post by DrumsGoBang on Oct 2, 2006 13:22:04 GMT -5
I've been to the sketchy flea-market bazaar near Chipotle. I shop there to decorate my office with swords that could have come from lord of the rings and bongs with wizards and dragons on them. Nothing says professional like a bong.
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