Student souvenir agency opens concession in Frist

The University Store is facing some new competition in Frist Campus Center this fall. For the first time, the Student Souvenir and Outfitting Agency has begun selling Princeton merchandise, including t-shirts, sweatshirts and wall banners, from a booth located near the welcome desk.

The booth is tentatively scheduled to be open 11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday for the next two weeks, agency manager Jeremy Tillman '05 said.

The booth is owned by the Student Agencies organization and had been in Frist last year, but the Souvenir Agency had not used the booth until this fall.

"Right now we're just testing it out to see if we get enough customers," Tillman said. He moved the booth so that it would be in view of the area where groups meet before leaving for campus tours.

Over the last decade, the agency has increased the variety of items it sells, Tillman said. This has resulted partly from the Souvenir Agency's absorption of multiple former agencies, including the t-shirt, button, wall banner and beer stein agencies.

Until the 2002-2003 academic year, the agency had been divided into two distinct parts: souvenirs and outfitting. These were combined in the fall of 2003, when Tillman was assistant manager, he said.

One of the goals of the agency is to undercut the U-Store, Tillman said. "Whatever the U-Store has we try to put the same thing but cheaper," he explained.

For example, the agency sells class wall banners for roughly $55, as compared with $77 for a similar item at the U-Store.

The agency is continuing to take orders to make shirts or other items to order. Sororities, eating clubs, departments and class officers are among the groups that order custom items from the agency, Tillman said. The agency works through a local screen printer in Ewing, N.J., he added.

In March, the agency launched a website — www.pusouvenirs.com — through which students and others can order items, Tillman said.

"It's been a good boost for our business and we're hoping it will take off a little more this year," he added.

The agency will hold a back-to-school sale with discounts that vary by class year. There will be a booth either inside or on the north side of the campus center open roughly from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, he said.