University of Houston Upgrades Game-Day Experience for Fans with New Follett Athletics Partnership
WESTCHESTER, ILL., Jul 6, 2021 – Follett, the nation’s largest operator of collegiate stores and athletic campus retail experiences, today announced a new athletics partnership with the University of Houston, effective July 1, 2021.
“We are proud to partner with Follett to enhance our merchandise capabilities for our fans inside our athletics venues,” University of Houston Vice President for Athletics Chris Pezman said. “This partnership will allow our fans to have expanded access to apparel and accessories whether they are attending a game on campus or shopping online.”
Follett has been operating campus retail for the University of Houston (UH) since June 2019. Through the new athletics partnership, Follett will be expanding its service to the UH campus community by becoming the official provider of UH athletics apparel and fan accessories, offering on-site sales of premier merchandise at gameday locations across campus and throughout the stadium. Customers can shop confidently knowing they can exchange or return items at the UH campus store when the gameday venues are closed.
“We are excited to welcome students and fans back to campus this fall and celebrate with them once again,” says Stacy Zapko, group vice president of retail operations for Follett. “This great addition to our partnership with the University of Houston will give fans access to a new selection of on-trend merchandise, convenient shopping locations and even more reasons to cheer on the Houston Cougars.”
In addition, the UH campus retail website will feature a new landing page dedicated to athletics. Supported by Follett’s renowned ecommerce platform – ranked #57 on Digital Commerce 360’s 2021 Top 1000 – the upgraded site will include an expanded merchandise assortment for UH fans everywhere. Shoppers will find merchandise highlighting every sport played at UH from celebrated brands like Nike, League, Champion, Peter Millar and Tommy Bahama.
“Whether shopping online or in-person, Houston fans will discover new ways to support all of their favorite UH teams,” says Chad Phillips, senior vice president of omnichannel merchandising and licensing at Follett. “Our assortment was carefully chosen to align with today’s fan experience and shine a spotlight on the outstanding athletics programs at the University of Houston.”
The University of Houston is the latest Follett campus to enter into an athletics partnership; others include Florida State University, Stanford University, University of Georgia, University of Nebraska, University of Notre Dame, as well as several across the state of Texas, including Texas Christian University, Baylor University, Texas State University and Rice University. Follett’s strong focus on supporting campus athletics has broadened the company’s scope in recent years and contributed to its evolving identity as an innovative campus retailer.
Fans can check out the expanded University of Houston athletics collection by visiting UHTeamshop.com.
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About University of Houston Athletics | UHCougars.com
The University of Houston Department of Athletics sponsors 17 Division I sport programs and more than 400 student-athletes. It has been a proud member of The American Athletic Conference since the league’s inception in 2013-14, claiming 29 conference championships and heightening its brand on a national stage during that time. The department claims 17 national championships, 157 conference championships and 1,041 All-Americans.
About Follett Higher Education Group | www.highered.follett.com
FHEG is a prominent and historic omnichannel retailer and educational service provider that operates over 1,100 campus store locations and 1,250 ecommerce campus store websites. Currently ranked #57 on Digital Commerce 360’s 2021 Top 1000, Follett provides emblematic and non-emblematic general merchandise and course materials within the higher education marketplace.
FHEG serves both two-year and four-year colleges through long-term contracts with approximately 800 campus partners. FHEG manages the institution’s online and in-store channels to assort and sell a wide array of merchandise and services that support students, faculty, campus administration, alumni, and the surrounding community. We enable faculty to teach, students to learn, institutions to run and fans to celebrate.
About Follett Corporation | follett.com
Follett Corporation is the world’s largest single source of educational materials, digital content, ecommerce, and multi-media for libraries, schools and institutions. Headquartered in Westchester, Illinois, Follett provides education technology, services and physical and digital content to millions of students at 70,000 schools, and more than 2,700 physical locations and campus eCommerce platforms in North America. Through our Baker & Taylor division, Follett’s reach also extends to the public library markets.
Media Contact:
Follett Higher Education
Samantha Swick, Director of Marketing and Communications
708.884.1387
sswick@follett.com
