Walking into the Marquette Spirit Shop can be overwhelming. As soon as you enter, you’re immediately surrounded by shirts, flags, sweatshirts and a lot of blue and gold. It’s a lot to take in, especially if you’re new on campus.
With the Spirit Shop entering a new school year, it is still hiring employees, and anywhere from twenty-five to forty students will be employed at any given time. Drew Mikel, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences and the student manager of the store, has worked at the Sprit Shop for three years. He sees plenty of student trends.
“For guys, usually just anything basketball is very popular. We get a new basketball jersey every single year and they always sell really well,” Mikel said.
It can change every year, but usually basketball gear will come out around October or November. He said that for women, spirit jerseys and woolly material clothes are all fairly popular.
He also mentioned an item many students probably wouldn’t think of: The Marquette holiday sweater.
“When we get them in, we’ll get something like forty massive cartons of them, and they all sell out before Christmas because they are an ugly Christmas sweater,” he said. “You’ve got to at least buy one in your four years here.”
Mikel then listed the staple items that he thinks every freshman should come look at and consider. His first suggestion was the Cal-Poly style sweatshirt, a basic crew neck with wider lettering across the middle that says “Marquette.” With white, gray, navy, gold or championship blue, the light blue third color of Marquette, it is a simple, easy choice for Marquette gear.
However, the one he was maybe most adamant about was even more simple.
“To basketball games, we wear gold,” Mikel said. “We don’t wear navy, we don’t say that we’re going to do a white-out this week. We always wear gold, no matter what, so they need at least one gold shirt. You’re not a part of the unit that is the fan section of Marquette without it.”
Contrary to popular belief, having an idea of what you might want to buy is not necessarily enough to navigate the store. The employees explained how to hunt for sales, and what really constitutes a good deal.
Every week there is a new promotion within the store where certain items will be discounted. Common sales include discounts on crews, an Under Armour discount or 20 percent off of the total purchase.
However, there are also three clearance racks in the store with even bigger sales if students are looking for a bargain. Employees said that they get just as excited about them as students.
“Some of the sports apparel on the clearance rack is crazy,” Max Morris, a sophomore in the College of Business Administration and Spirit Shop employee, said. “I got a nice shirt for like $4. You can find some insane stuff on there for really cheap.”
The clearance rack is a phenomenal place to find a bargain,” Larry Birkett, the associate director of the store, said. “Throughout the week or the month, we’ll have additional markdowns on the clearance rack. So they’re already marked down, but then you can take an additional percent off.”
Additionally, students can follow the Spirit Shop on social media to keep up with sales and new merchandise. But when in doubt, just ask one of the many workers floating around the store. They are there for a reason.
