Multimedia Reporting (Kuhr-Musser)

Lawrence merchants are worried about the possibility of a low-cost clothing chain obtaining the rights to sell University of Kansas apparel.

The merchants fear that Steve and Barry’s University Sportswear, a national chain which opened a store in Olathe last May, will sell officially licensed KU clothing at such a low price that it will hurt sales for local businesses.

“I think the impact will be two-fold,” said David Mucci, Director of the KU Memorial Unions. “What really happens is at some point you drive retailers out of the market because they can’t afford to compete and then you drive licensing people out of the market too.”

Steve and Barry’s, which produces all of their own officially licensed college clothing, changes prices regularly but always keeps them lower than virtually any competitor. The Olathe store is currently selling everything in the store for $6.99 or less.

Mucci said that the low prices could even cause some stores to stop selling KU merchandise altogether, meaning that local fans would have less access to apparel.

“The choices would become very limited, because no one can afford to go into the market,” Mucci said.

Jim Marchiony, KU Associate Athletics Director, is willing to take concerns like Mucci’s into consideration when deciding whether or not to grant Steve and Barry’s a license, but said that they will not dictate his decision.

“We are sympathetic with that opinion but do not necessarily buy into it,” Marchiony said, “because we know that Steve and Barry's has been a good partner for many schools around the country.”

Steve and Barry’s holds a license for the majority of colleges in major athletic conferences. Big 12 schools like Missouri, Kansas State, Texas and Oklahoma all have deals with Steve and Barry’s.

Marchiony said that Kansas may be close to joining them.

“We have countered their original proposal, and are waiting to hear back from them,” Marchiony said. “They have had that counter proposal for weeks.”

Obviously, the Olathe store would expect a huge boom in business if an agreement is reached between KU and Steve and Barry’s.

“Probably ten people a day asked me why we didn’t carry any KU stuff every day for as long as I worked there,” said Brandon Novelli, an employee at Steve and Barry’s in Olathe from the store’s opening through this January. “And a lot of them were pretty angry about it.” Novelli indicated that Mucci’s fears may be accurate.

“Customers kept saying that if we had KU clothes they wouldn’t shop anywhere else,” Novelli said. “Clearly, they’re exaggerating, but probably not by too much.”

In addition to collegiate apparel, Steve and Barry’s sells men’s and women’s casual clothing similar in style to Old Navy.

As customers continue to pine for cheap clothes, Marchiony continues to wait for Steve and Barry’s to decide if they want to begin a partnership that could have serious consequences for Lawrence businesses.

“I think a lot of us are uneasy about that possibility,” Mucci said. “It would obviously have a significant impact in the market.”