Phones ring throughout the day with customers calling to find the perfect pair of hiking boots and equipment vendors scheduling their deliveries. The consistent calls are nothing new for Sunflower Outdoor & Bike, 804 Massachusetts St., but this year the holiday season has prompted some customers to call everyday to see if a shipment of The North Face Roo bags have arrived.
"It's iconic at this point," said Dan Hughes, owner of Sunflower Outdoor & Bike. Lawrence college girls, high school girls, middle school girls and their parents have been trying to get their hands on the Roo for more than a month. Hughes and his staff have watched Roo bags fly off the shelf for the last seven years, and the demand has only risen.
The North Face Roo is sold as a lumbar pack, which is essentially a fanny pack. The bags range in color and retail at $24.98. While the Roo has been a staple of The North Face for ten years, distributors have noticed a Roo trend in college towns over the last seven years, and specifically in the Midwest.
"The trend of popularity is specific to Kansas and Missouri," said Brian Masewicz, a Kansas distributor of The North Face. Masewicz has sold the majority of Roos in college towns like Lawrence, Manhattan, St. Louis and Columbia, Mo.
"As soon as they hit the shelves, they're gone," said Gay at Pathfinder in Manhattan. Pathfinder, an outdoor clothing and gear shop, has also been out of the bags for over a month. She said because Manhattan is a college town, the bags are very popular.
"The North Face is definitely aware of the trend," Masewicz said. While retailers are anxious to sell more Roos, Masewicz said the bags are hard to find because The North Face does not want to over-saturate the market. The North Face introduced a smaller version of the Roo three years ago to further satisfy the demand for the fanny bags.
"We'll usually receive 70 bags and sell them in a week," said Patrick Attwater, who works at Sunflower Outdoor & Bike. Sunflower Outdoor & Bike has kept a waiting list of names to ensure their customers receive a bag this season.
"Our sales keep going up and up," Attwater said. "When we have the bags in stock, we'll sell two or three everyday. They're an easy sale."
Attwater, who attended Kansas State University his first year of college, currently lives in Lawrence and has been working at Sunflower Outdoor & Bike for the past year. He has observed girls in both Lawrence and Manhattan sport the bags. Attwater said he often notices girls use Roos as a purse, usually at sporting events.
Matt Johnson, Polar Tech as an account manager, distributed The North Face around Kansas for ten years until last year. Johnson said he sold thousands of Roos when he worked for The North Face.
"It started with a lot of schools limiting the size of bags kids brought to school," he said. Johnson said schools started taking extra measures to prevent violence and a small bag prevented people from bringing weapons to school.
Though the bag has been a hit with women and girls in school, The North Face initially designed the Roo bag for backpackers and hikers. Deborah Meyer-Brosdahl, associate professor of apparel, textiles and interior at Kansas State University, said it's not unusual for a product to appeal to consumers outside of the target market.
"Whoever is marketing it my not have a hold on what the target market is looking for," Brosdahl said.
Brosdahl also said it's not unusual for trends to start with young people.
"It's been proven that at this age there is higher fashion involvement," Brosdahl said. She said young people, especially at a college age, are not only more likely to experiment with fashion, but they're also exposed to more fashion since they are around so many people on campus.
Brosdahl said women usually choose bags and purses based on their function, aesthetic and brand name. She said the Roo is popular most likely because of it's functionality and because it is a product of The North Face.
"The only reason I got one was for my study aboard trip to Italy," said Kristin Haeussler, Naperville, Ill. senior. Haeussler said the bag served as a good travel bag because it was easy to keep track of her money, camera and identification.
"I wanted one because all of my friends had one in high school," said Megan Heyer, Kirkwood, Mo. Senior. Heyer said she noticed girls wearing the bags her sophomore year of high school in 2002. "The North Face was kind of a symbol of 'I have money,'" she said.
Heyer received her first Roo bag her senior year of high school and began wearing the bag to NASCAR races. Heyer said she uses a Roo because they're small enough to bring into events that limit the size of bags.
Sunflower Outdoor & Bike doesn't see the Roo going anywhere for a while, but whether or not they can keep them in stock to feed the trend is another question.
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