Brayden Jessen It kind of depends on -- are we talking retail store chains? Or are we talking university departments? This year is gonna be a challenge and we're trying to figure out if the students aren't there, are they going to be needing, you know, the merch? So, you have to be proactive and start before the school year starts constantly pitching new ideas to the stores. Again, I think that it is key to, just release our press release to the grocery store or the news stations the other day, and hopefully, get them to come out. You know, sometimes they come out, sometimes they don't. You never know when your idea is going to flop, then that news anchor you have that great relationship with gets a better job offer then they leave and you're starting from scratch. So, some of this might sound like an awesome idea, but it's been a lot of work over the years. And I can tell you this, that you just have to keep being on it, know multiple people in the stations, and not rely on one sales channel. You know, you have your Instagram, you have your Twitter. I mean, we're looking into tech talk. We don't have anything yet, but you know, just constantly be looking for traffic sources, and constantly willing to pivot because things change. Sometimes you think you have the greatest idea in the world and it flops. I'll tell you a crazy story. So my sales rep that deals with a lot of the stores has a dog. Okay. It's not a bulldog like Gonzaga Bulldogs. He made a Gonzaga outfit, a little basketball for his dog. Took a picture of it -- though it was the cutest thing ever, and thought it would make the greatest t-shirt in the world. And I'm like, "Oh man, you sound like every nightmare customer of ours that comes in". Right? So, he gets the stores on the phone -- I'm listening to his pitch. This idea of "Everyone is a Bulldog at Heart" and says, cute little puppy wearing a Gonzaga T-shirt. I'm like, there is no one's going to want to wear a photo t-shirt of some little puppy. Well, you know, sometimes his crazy ideas have huge sales. He pitches it. I went by my sign department, they're printing posters of his dog on it! I'm like, now we're printing posters of this darn puppy wearing a Gonzaga shirt? Well, what he did is he told the stores: "I'll print you free banners to help you market these shirts. What can we do to help you market these shirts?" So, few stores bit off. You wouldn't believe, I'll bet you he did $4,000 in sales -- not huge, but that's a decent chunk of some weird idea of printing a dog on a t-shirt. And it's just, how can you help your customers? How do you help your retailers sell? So they're not afraid of being stuck with shirts that don't sell. Because, in those grocery stores, you think about all the little old ladies out there that love Gonzaga, I think that's just the cutest little puppy, love those shirts.
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