JULY 13 - JULY 19,2005
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
3
BUSINESS
Stores prepare to switch to adidas
Kerri Henderson/KANSAN
BY KRISTEN JARBOE
editor@kansan.com
SPECIAL TO THE KANSAN
As of July 1, the University of Kansas Athletics Department told athletes they could no longer wear Nike apparel in the weight room or to workout in.
But the switch from Nike to adidas is taking a little longer to implement in merchandise stores. For KUStore.com, a company run by the Athletics Department, Nike gear still lingers in the office.
"We haven't been told a certain date when we can no longer sell Nike," said Jeff Hackel, assistant e-commerce manager. "Right now, we're selling Nike at cost, or half price. We're just going to keep selling it until it's gone. There's talk of a garage sale, which has been done in the past to get rid of older apparel, but it's not for sure."
Local bookstores are still able to sell some Nike gear, like hats and T-shirts. But if the apparel is something that the athletes would wear, then it has to be adidas.
Some of the adidas apparel might be hard to sell. Kristin Vickers, store manager of University Book Shop, 1116 W.23rd St., talked with the company that owns University Book Shop, and also talked with 130 other companies. They informed her that as a group, 70 percent of merchandise sold is Nike, and 30 percent is adidas.
"Nike is pretty fashionable and looks good," Vickers said. "The consumers want the Nike brand."
Hackel said in comparison to Nike, adidas has a limited selection of apparel.
justment to be made. Hackel said that Stephanie Temple, head e-commerce manager who orders the apparel, was worried about adidas' shipping schedule.
"From what I've seen, adidas is pretty generic," Hackel said. "They have the same Kansas shirt for every sport, whereas with Nike, they produced a totally different line called Elite."
There is also the shipping ad.
Brenda Bell, San Francisco, compares an adidas KU t-shirt (right) to a Nike one at Jock's Nitch Sporting Goods, 837 Massachusetts St. adidas will be the official supplier of KU sportswear; however, most of the adidas apparel will not be available in stores until August.
Hackel said Temple finally had the schedule with Nike figured out, and that she would now have to learn the adidas shipping schedule.
After seeing the adidas catalog, Vickers said she was "a little apprehensive" about their clothing line. The size of the two catalogs is significantly different as well. The adidas one is quit a bit smaller, Hackel said.
Knowing when items are coming in is crucial to business, especially when trying to get a certain item in for a big game.
KUstore.com is not just an online company, but also sets up stands at all major sporting events.
"I've worked with Nike for the past five years, and never worked with adidas," Vickers said. "I'm just hoping they deliver in time. We probably won't know until September when we get all the gear in."
Sales with adidas start just in time for football season. After the season starts, KUStore.com and bookstores may have an idea of what to expect.
Several stores had expected to
"It'll be interesting working with adidas," Hackel said. "I think initially itll be good because it's new."
have new jerseys and shirts stocked by the July 4th week end. adidas e-mailed The Sports Dome, 1000 Massachusetts St., and the Jayhawk Bookstore, 1420 Crescent Road, notifying them they would have to wait on the new apparel.
"This is a major setback in forming a healthy relationship," said Bill Muggy, Jayhawk Bookstore owner.
Gabe Van Pelt contributed to this story.
— Edited by Erin M. Droste.
EDUCATION
Edwards campus has summer school opportunities
BY ASHLEY MICHAELS
amichaels@kansan.com
KANSAN STAFF WRITER
Summer is usually a time for relaxing and taking some time off, but for some eager students it is a time to get ahead of the game and take classes toward graduation.
The question for University of Kansas students is not whether to take summer classes but where to take summer classes.
One option that many students may not consider is the University's Edwards Campus in Johnson County.
The Edwards Campus is
not home to the majority of traditional students. According to the Edwards Campus Web site, 90 percent of the students work full-time, more than half are married and the average age of the students is 32 years old.
In the summer of 2000, the Edwards Campus began a summer program for traditional students looking to take courses they had previously dropped or to speed up their graduation date.
"It was the result of a demand expressed by KU students and students from other colleges who live in the Johnson County
and greater Kansas City area who came home for the summer looking for light course work," said Bob Clark, vice chancellor of the KU Edwards Campus.
Before the program began, the Edwards Campus did not have an undergraduate program. When it noticed demand for one, it began a relationship with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University.
Going into its fifth year, the Edwards Campus summer program, otherwise known as Summer at KU in KC, has been reasonably successful, Clark said.
The first several years the program saw an increase in enrollment, but from last year to this year it is pretty flat, Clark said.
Last summer, students enrolled in 1,673 credit hours at Edwards Campus. This summer the numbers have increased slightly, with students enrolled in 1,712 credit hours. Although it is still an increase, it does not compare to the increase from the first several years, Clark said.
When the summer program began, the tuition rate was the same for residents and nonresi-
"Our decline in enrollment is due to the fact that we changed from resident to nonresident ition." Clark said.
dents.
"It was intended for students on both sides of the state line so they wouldn't have to pay nonresident tuition," Clark said.
Problems arose when traditional students from the University began attending the Edwards Campus to avoid paying nonresident tuition fees, Clark said. The solution was an increase in tuition rates for nonresident students.
Clark does not expect the program to increase much in the future but said he thought the Edwards Campus was still filling a need for local college students during the summer.