Four hours after the University of Arizona Campus Store set up its pop-up store near Main Gate Monday morning, they had sold out of red and blue “Final Four” t-shirts. All that was left were white shirts, which didn’t seem to be attracting a crowd Monday afternoon.
The pop-up was one of at least seven set up after the University of Arizona men’s basketball team on March 28 defeated Purdue and punched its ticket to this weekend’s Final Four in Indianapolis. They face top-ranked Michigan at 5:49 p.m. Saturday.
“We have already sold over 17,000 items in all of our locations. We are receiving deliveries every day from the printers for these shirts,” said Peter Neff, executive director of the Campus Store.
It’s the Wildcats first Final Four since 2001.
“I think I’m more excited this time than I was 25 years ago,” said alum David Shaw, who was picking up a shirt at the UA Campus Store Monday.
Shaw said he had assumed the Wildcats making the Final Four “would be more of a regular thing” after 2001.
“And it’s been 25 years, so I’d better get my shirt and stuff while I have the chance,” he said.
Shaw was among dozens of customers at the store next to the Student Union Memorial Center, where employees told shoppers they were ordering more red and blue shirts. Shipments are expected to arrive daily.
Campus Store employees sell t-shirts at the pop-up at Main Gate Square on April 1.
The Campus Store has added pop-up tents along the corners of campus on East Speedway and North Campbell Avenue, Campbell and East Sixth Street, Casino del Sol Stadium parking lot, East Sixth and North Park Avenue, Main Gate Square on North Park and East University Boulevard, North Park and East Speedway and at Hi Corbett Field at Reid Park.
“We use pop-up tents throughout the year when the event is called for. Locations were based on traffic and accessibility for fans, such as Hi Corbett, since it is in a high-traffic area for Tucson with a large parking lot,” Neff said.
The pop-ups are open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. through April 9; they will close on Sunday, April 5, in observance of Easter.
The parking lots at the stadium, 1 National Championship Drive on the UA campus, and at Hi Corbett, 700 S. Randolph Way, will change their hours to 8 a.m.-6 p.m. starting April 6.
“If we win the championship on Monday, our goal is to have at least one style of shirt by the time we open on Tuesday,” Neff said. “The remaining styles would come throughout the week.”
Shirts are also available online at shop.arizona.edu.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
