Fans of the Orange have been spending some green to support their basketball team.

Saturday’s Syracuse University versus Duke University match-up could possibly break the national attendance record for a regular season college basketball game, which means local stores are preparing for an influx of customers.

Bill Nester, manager at Manny’s, said he would compensate for the rush by adding more people to work toward the end of the week. He said he would also have them work through Sunday or Monday.

So far the “Beat Duke” T-shirt has been one of their best selling items. Nester said he thinks it will sell out entirely — especially if the Orange remains undefeated after the Wake Forest game this Wednesday.

Another shirt features the phrase “Beat Syracuse” — but the words are boldly crossed out and “That’s Impossible” is printed directly underneath.

As for game day, Nester said he thinks SU will break the attendance record like the games against Villanova in 2010 and 2011, and the game last year against Georgetown.  This will mean more people to sell to and thus, greater sales, he said.

“Basketball is tremendous for business,” Nester said.

Nester has noticed that Manny’s draws buyers — like alumni and sometimes people that are unaffiliated to the university — to buy “anything and everything.”

“People will buy anything they can get their hands on,” Nester said.

He said last week people were in buying tank tops despite the cold, demonstrating that it is impossible to gauge what people will buy.

The SU Bookstore has been preparing for the Duke game since before Thanksgiving, said Gale Youmell, the division merchandise manager.

The bookstore added a special edition shirt to its lineup which reads “ACC: All ‘Cuse Conference,” which Youmell is hoping will sell out throughout the season.

The bookstore plans to have extra employees on staff for the upcoming weekend — nearly doubling the number of associates in the apparel section.  The bookstore will also have extended hours on Saturday for the game, when they will be open from 10 a.m. until 6:30 p.m.

Youmell said the bookstore is hoping to draw in some of the attendees at the Ultimate SU Tailgate in Goldstein Auditorium. She said not only SU students have bought from the bookstore but that they have also seen sales from alumni and online buyers.

Youmell said she looks at the sales of each day to plan the rest of the week, in case she needs to put more merchandise on order.

Overall, she said the campus clothing stores complement each other with their creative T-shirt designs and Syracuse-related items that they sell.

“I love the atmosphere,” Youmell said. “We love the atmosphere.”

Published on January 28, 2014 at 1:40 am

Contact Caroline: cstrange@syr.edu