Of all the Duck fans pulling for Oregon during its current run in the NCAA basketball tournament, there might be none rooting harder than the managers at the University Bookstore.
That’s because success for the Oregon basketball team means an increase in merchandise sales for the University Bookstore and its partner Duck Shop stores across the state. Compared with last year, clothing sales this month are up as much as 50 to 70 percent in Duck Shops across the board, said Merchandise Manager Arlyn Schaufler, who has worked at the University Bookstore for more than 25 years.
“I know the impact of what sports can do for our business. We’ve already placed orders for the event that we make the Sweet 16 or Final Four,” Schaufler said Friday. “But if they lose, the excitement could be over instantaneously.”
In the past week alone, the University Bookstore has sold more than 1,200 Duck shirts and sweatshirts. And in the wake of Oregon’s 75-61 win over Winthrop to advance to the Sweet 16, the trend is likely to continue, Schaufler said Sunday.
“We’re really going to feel it in the next few days,” he said. “I think the madness will catch on.”
But the extra merchandise orders to capitalize on demand can also be a gamble depending on how the team fares, said sales associate Colin Crocker.
“It’s kind of a guessing game, because when you lose, you tend to sit on merchandise,” he said.
For this reason, the University Bookstore tends to order more generic Oregon basketball clothing that don’t specify a certain round or game the team plays in, Crocker said, so if the team loses its game this Friday against the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, the merchandise will still be able to sell.
Regardless of what happens to the Oregon team, the University Bookstore will embrace the extra traffic the tournament brings into the store by setting up chairs and tables with snacks in front of its back television so fans can watch more comfortably. Crocker said Oregon’s first-round game last Friday brought as many as 300 extra people into the store.
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