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Keith McCord ReportingA winning season certainly generates school pride, but this year, the winning season inside the Ute stadium, has also resulted into some good deals for the students inside the bookstore.
We've certainly seen a lot of "RED" the last few weeks! The Ute football team blitzed through the season, knocking off every opponent. Ute fans have worn their colors with pride, and the main bookstore at the "U" has certainly benefited from that.
Earl Clegg, Director, University Bookstore: “The Final Four was the first experience that we had with any major success. But this is three times as big as the Final Four was!”
Each week, as the Utes kept winning, the bookstore got busier. Thousands of fans came in to buy hats, t-shirts, sweatshirts. Thanks to the football team, sales during October and November are way up over last year.
Earl Clegg: “As we became more successful, so did our sales.”
While sales of insignia items certainly help the school make some extra money, those sales are also giving students a break when they go to the bookstore.
Earl Clegg: "And with this increase in volume in sales that we've had in insignia apparel, we've been able to take some of those profits and reduce the price of textbooks for the spring semester."
And with some textbooks costing upwards of a hundred dollars, any discount is great. Every item in the Ute Bookstore, except for computers and electronics, is discounted five percent for all students.
Earl Clegg: "We started it in the fall, for fall semester. But because of the sales, we're going to be able to continue it into the spring."
And they may keep the discount program going next year too. Merchandise sales will most likely spike again next week because the Utes will learn which bowl game they'll attend. The bookstore folks have artwork in place for whichever bowl they attend, the new stuff will be in on Wednesday.
