Carolina In My Mind: UNC Championship Apparel In High Demand

UNC T-Shirts Among Most Popular Selling Item

Univ. of North Carolina fans "flooded stores looking for championship T-shirts, hats and other apparel" following the school winning its fifth NCAA men's basketball championship Monday night, according to Sue Stock of the Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER. Some stores opened early Tuesday "to accommodate the rush." Mike Ewald, a spokesperson for the 23 North Carolina-based Dick's Sporting Goods locations, said, "You're talking about a pretty passionate and avid fan base. People are getting excited about it and want their stuff." Stock reported the "most popular sellers Tuesday were the 'locker room' T-shirts that the players wore on television Monday night after their victory," which retail for around $20. North Carolina-based Omega Sports Dir Alan Lloyd: "It's a pretty major deal for us. Maybe up to 4 or 5[%] of your annual sales you could do in one week -- and it's not Christmas." Durham-based Replay Photos President Sue Harnett, whose company sells collegiate sports photos and memorabilia online, "expected to see $12,000 in orders by the end of Tuesday" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 4/8). North Carolina-based M.J. Soffe President Ken Spires said of UNC championship gear, "We'll sell throughout the week and next week and then the next holiday. But that big impact is that first 24 hours" (FAYETTEVILLE OBSERVER, 4/8). Chapel Hill-based Johnny T-Shirt Manager Heather Frazier said the store is selling "anything they can put a 2009 National Championship logo on" (News 14 Charlotte, 4/7). North Carolina-based NVizion Inc. Operations Manager Mike Steele said that its order of 25,000 championship T-shirts was "larger than the orders the company fulfilled" after UNC's national championship in '05 and the NFL Panthers' NFC championship in '04 (WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL, 4/8).

HOT FROZEN GEAR: Bemidji State Univ. (BSU) will play in its first NCAA hockey Frozen Four this afternoon, and Ziggy Zerott, owner of the Cool Threads apparel store near campus, said he was "wiped out" of Frozen Four T-shirts when they arrived last Thursday. Zerott added that last Thursday's receipts "exceeded his previous best day by 50[%]." Zerott: "We can't even keep up with our regular Bemidji State stuff" (Pat Borzi, N.Y. TIMES, 4/8).