New Bradley merchandise

[beyondthearc14]

BU Merchandise

This thread concerning Bradley merchandise is a perfect place for me to share a
recent experience. I went to Steve and Barry's out at the Old Pekin mall location to buy a
Bradley sweatshirt. All they had was long and short sleeve Bradley t-shirts. The U of I and
Illinois State not only had t-shirts ,but sweatshirts and jackets as well. I then went to another sports store in Pekin where I found tons of ILLINI merchandise but no Bradley merchandise .I then went to Walmart to look for Bradley merchandise.I didn't find anything
for Bradley when I got to Walmart,but I did find more ILLINI merchandise.
The next day some family members of mine went to 3 stores looking for Bradley
merchandise and weren't able to find any.They then decided to give up hope of finding
Bradley merchadise at an outside store and headed for the BU Bookstore.Unfortunately when
they arrived there they found out that it was only open 9-5 Monday through Friday.The lack
of weekend hours in my opinoin makes it hard for Bradley fans that work traditional hours
to purchase Bradley merchandise.
I guess the whole point of this rant is that I'm frustrated that an ILLINI fan in Peoria
has almost innumerable merchandise to choose from while a Bradley fan almost has none to
choose from.If Bradley wants to grow their fan base they need to get a wider array of
merchandise to stores such as Steve and Barry's. Bradley also has to work at getting at
least a minimal amount of Bradley merchandise to all sports stores in the Peoria area.While
winning is important to growing a fan base,merchandise is equally as important to growing a
fan base.I feel that Bradley will make less revenue selling merchandise through the bookstore
and online than if they spread the merchandise out throughout stores in the Peoria area.
If 20 different stores in the Peoria area carried Bradley merchandise as opposed to basicly
just the bookstore and online I can't help but think that Bradley merchandising revenues would go up.The convience factor alone of being able to buy merchandise close to home
rather than always having to travel to the Bradley bookstore would be great.Greater revenues from a greater distibution of Bradley merchandise in stores would lead to more
money for the recruiting budget.More money for the recruiting budget should help us to
impress recruits more and possibly land a "blue chipper" done the road.
I'm also worried taht 10 year old kids somewhere out there will choose to be
ILLINI fans over a Bradley fan just because their merchandise is so much easier to buy.I'm
sorry but Bradley's merchandising effort is "Mid Majorish" compared to that of ILLINOIS.

[Beninator]

This thread concerning Bradley merchandise is a perfect place for me to share a
recent experience. I went to Steve and Barry's out at the Old Pekin mall location to buy a
Bradley sweatshirt. All they had was long and short sleeve Bradley t-shirts. The U of I and
Illinois State not only had t-shirts ,but sweatshirts and jackets as well. I then went to another sports store in Pekin where I found tons of ILLINI merchandise but no Bradley merchandise .I then went to Walmart to look for Bradley merchandise.I didn't find anything
for Bradley when I got to Walmart,but I did find more ILLINI merchandise.
The next day some family members of mine went to 3 stores looking for Bradley
merchandise and weren't able to find any.They then decided to give up hope of finding
Bradley merchadise at an outside store and headed for the BU Bookstore.Unfortunately when
they arrived there they found out that it was only open 9-5 Monday through Friday.The lack
of weekend hours in my opinoin makes it hard for Bradley fans that work traditional hours
to purchase Bradley merchandise.
I guess the whole point of this rant is that I'm frustrated that an ILLINI fan in Peoria
has almost innumerable merchandise to choose from while a Bradley fan almost has none to
choose from.If Bradley wants to grow their fan base they need to get a wider array of
merchandise to stores such as Steve and Barry's. Bradley also has to work at getting at
least a minimal amount of Bradley merchandise to all sports stores in the Peoria area.While
winning is important to growing a fan base,merchandise is equally as important to growing a
fan base.I feel that Bradley will make less revenue selling merchandise through the bookstore
and online than if they spread the merchandise out throughout stores in the Peoria area.
If 20 different stores in the Peoria area carried Bradley merchandise as opposed to basicly
just the bookstore and online I can't help but think that Bradley merchandising revenues would go up.The convience factor alone of being able to buy merchandise close to home
rather than always having to travel to the Bradley bookstore would be great.Greater revenues from a greater distibution of Bradley merchandise in stores would lead to more
money for the recruiting budget.More money for the recruiting budget should help us to
impress recruits more and possibly land a "blue chipper" done the road.
I'm also worried taht 10 year old kids somewhere out there will choose to be
ILLINI fans over a Bradley fan just because their merchandise is so much easier to buy.I'm
sorry but Bradley's merchandising effort is "Mid Majorish" compared to that of ILLINOIS.

Beyondthearc, I have some experience with a previous job with ordering sports merchandise for a regional retail chain. This really isnt Bradley's fault. The major manufacturers of sports merchandise that the retailers buy from mostly cater to the larger schools that will in turn, generate the most profit and quickest turnover for the manufactures. With my experience, I can tell you that there were very few companies that a regional retailer could order from that carried merchandise from a smaller school such as Bradley. I doubt that a national retailer such as a Walmart would even consider ordering Bradley merchandise. As a matter of fact, I delt with one manufacturer that had an NCAA license which in turn allowed me to design a Bradley sweatshirt so that our chain would have Bradley sweatshirts for the Christmas season. I am proud to say that the Bradley sweatshirt I designed did sell out. To be honest, the quality of the sweatshirt material wasnt that great and I am not sure if the manufacturer is still in business. I would guess that the Bradley bookstore has a relationship with some manufactures which will allow the manufacturers to produce Bradley merchandise as the bookstore would order this merchandise in some type of quantity. I am fairly picky about the Bradley merchandise that I purchase. Before we made the Sweet 16 run a couple of years ago, I did find a nice looking Bradley hooded sweatshirt at Bergers at the new mall. Again, the sweatshirt that I bought was not made by a major manufacturer.... For this to change, a couple of things have to happen. One thing is that we have to keep winning... Everybody loves a winner and you would be surprised how many people jump on a winner's bandwagon. Secondly, Bradley has to get a better logo of some type. By saying this I am not advocating us changing the Braves name, but I am stating that we need to get away from the current boring logo that Bradley uses.

[Majik45]

If you need a place to find some good Bradley merchandise, there is a store in the old mall and the new mall in Peoria called Campus town (I Think). It's where the old Aladin's castle (arcade) used to be in the old mall, and is up across from Old Navy in the new mall. They have the best selection of Bradley stuff outside of finding it on campus.

[ph]

Walmart always has a few items with local high school logos, so they (Wal-mart) do micro-market certain school apparel in the local stores. I'm sure I've seen a few Bradley items available at different times.

Dave and Barry's in Peoria once told me that they do not have any Bradley kids sizes due to licensing agreements, but they had a few adult Bradley t-shirt type items.

I've seen a (small) Bradley section in Gordmans, and got a Bradley 3x5 rug at Menards this summer. I've actually thought that there is now much more Bradley stuff in many local stores now in comparison to several years ago when your only choice was the Bradley bookstore.

The Illini will have a biger selection as larger manufacturers have bigger B10 agreements than MVC so B10 has a bigger selection available.

[Da Coach]

Walmart always has a few items with local high school logos, so they (Wal-mart) do micro-market certain school apparel in the local stores. I'm sure I've seen a few Bradley items available at different times.

I was in a Walmart this past weekend and saw a few Bradley shirts and sweatshirts. They didn't have many, but they were carrying them.

[ph]

I'm wondering if, as posted, the Pekin location does not carry any Bradley merchandise. (Since Bradley is in Peoria, not Pekin), or perhaps there has been a rush on Bradley merchandise as Crouch, from Pekin HS, led the nation in 3point % and is half the Bradley marketing campaign.

Bradley merchandice seems to fall under the category of when I am not looking for any Bradley merchandise, there is quite a lot available. If I ever need any specific Bradely item, I can never find it except in the bookstore at full retail price...

[mike radigan]

I do not know what the situation is now, but at one time Smith & Barry's did not carry BU stuff because of a license issue.

[Majik45]

I do not know what the situation is now, but at one time Smith & Barry's did not carry BU stuff because of a license issue.

Steve and Barry's got through that licensing agreement and carry's some shirts now, but it's pretty limited, and I don't believe they have any kind of sweatshirts or anything else like that.

[Beninator]

Steve and Barry's got through that licensing agreement and carry's some shirts now, but it's pretty limited, and I don't believe they have any kind of sweatshirts or anything else like that.

I have never heard or been to this store, but in a way, this sounds similar to what I ran into... I think that you will see more places carrying Bradley sweatshirts etc especially with the Christmas season coming up quickly. I know that I made it a point to have a delivery date for sweatshirts around the middle of October.

[shaunguth]

I know I've seen Bradley shirts and sweatshirts at Walmart on more than one occasion. Seems they even had them right up front a couple times and there seemed to be quite a selection.

[Chucky T's]

I was in Kohl's not to long ago and they had a limited supply of BU shirts and hats. Once again, not many but I was shocked to see BU merchandise in Kohl's.

[tornado]

Hey--
I was just at the BU Bookstore a few minutes ago and they have a sale of a lot of merchandise, especially appearell
and some items are presently 25% off. I also bought a nice, new thick,
fluffy, warm pullover sweatshirt
(I chose black since I already have plenty of red BU apparel) with the short-zippered neck and an embroidered BU logo for about $30!!

Hmmm...I wonder if we swapped some advertising space for the Bookstore on BradleyFans.com, maybe they'd throw in a couple nice T-shirts as well for us to give out as prizes in our pickems?

[BradleyStuff]

New option for BU merchandise (Bradley Stuff)

I'll point you to another option. I created www.BradleyStuff.com a little while back. We sell a variety of Bradley-licensed merchandise.

I had experienced the same frustrations in finding BU items when I was a BU student, and even more after graduating and leaving Peoria. Please take a look, spread the word to other BU fans, and let us know if there is something you don't see but are interested in. Check back from time to time as well; we'll be adding a few new items soon...

I just recently came across Bradley Fans--this is great!