Looking for holiday gifts that please your loved ones and does the community good at the same time? “We’ve got you covered,” says Mark Levine, Director of Marketing and Communications for Idaho State University. From babies to grandmas and grandpas, and everyone in between, ISU licensed merchandise makes unique gifts that have a positive side effect for the school.

    Levine administers the merchandise-licensing program at ISU, which includes anything with ISU logos and wordage, and marketing efforts for ISU merchandise has taken great strides forward in recent years. For the first time, the program has developed an on-line holiday gift catalog that features a wide range of gift and clothing items. This brand new catalog can be accessed from the university’s website at www.isu.edu.

    With evident excitement, Levine described the benefits of the ISU merchandise-licensing program. “It accomplishes a number of things,” said Levine. “One, it provides scholarship support,” he said. “For everything that is sold, 10% of the purchase price comes back to the university as royalties. Those royalties support student scholarships,” Levine explained.

     “Secondly, it’s a way for people to show their Bengal pride, and at the same time they are doing a great service to the community by providing financial support for students” Levine continued. “And we set it up in a way that is affordable to everyone,” added Levine. “We have multiple price points,” Levine said, so that buyers can find a nice gift that won’t break the budget.   

    A variety of items are available, including the standard coffee mugs, travel cups, hats and T-shirts. But there are also more unusual items, such as Bengal car flags, clothing for the baby Bengal, children’s clothing, gourmet food items like popcorn and chocolates, golf gear, luggage, thumb drives, drink coolers, tailgating chairs, tote bags, and hunting and fishing clothing. Even your dog can support ISU students by wearing a quilted ISU dog sweater, and the handyman can use his ISU measuring tape with built-in water level.

    A brand-new manufacturer of ISU merchandise this year is a company called Meesh + Mia, based in Sandpoint, Idaho. The company produces items specifically designed for women, so ladies who want to show their Bengal pride have other options besides unisex T-shirts. The ISU women’s clothing line includes tasteful street clothing, embellished with Bengal logos.

    Levine has been responsible for the licensing program for three years, and the program has grown rapidly over that time, increasing the variety of ISU goods available, increasing the number of manufacturers that produce those goods, and the number of retailers that carry them, both in store and on-line. This calendar year ISU has earned about $32,000 in royalty payments on licensed merchandise that goes to benefit student scholarships.  

    “We are recognized as having an aggressive retail program,” said Levine, and the school takes every opportunity to market ISU merchandise, whether in the campus bookstore, at athletic events, or on radio spots. ISU works with the Collegiate Licensing Consortium, which helps about 200 colleges to market merchandise, and network with retailers and manufacturers.

    ISU merchandise can be purchased at the University Bookstore in the Pond Student Union on campus, and at the Orange and Black Store, operated by New Day Resources, located at 123 S. Main St. in Pocatello. Other local retailers that carry ISU merchandise include Dick’s Sporting Goods, T-Shirts Plus in the Pine Ridge Mall, Idaho Unlimited, Bed, Bath, & Beyond, Alston T-Shirt Printing and Embroidery, Costco, and the Popcorn Shop.

    Shop online at ISU’s website, at collegefangear.com and for women’s ISU clothing, go to meesandmia.com. Levine also mentioned that Molinelli’s Jewelry in Old Town Pocatello will soon be carrying a line of ISU licensed fine jewelry items.

    On the national scale, Idaho State University may be considered a small school, but that doesn’t mean that local supporters and alumni have only small amount of school pride. “We still have the same degree of spirit as other fans have,” said Levine. “It’s really neat to walk down the street and see people wearing the designs that we produced for the school,” he said. Wearing, using and giving ISU licensed merchandise is a great way to show that spirit and support the needs of local students at the same time.

Online

Access ISU merchandise on the ISU website at www.isu.edu