Laura Beaghan, owner of University Spirit, continues her family’s tradition of serving UGA for 50 years despite the rise of online customization.
Q: As a well-known, family-owned business here in Athens, what inspired your family to start the business, and how has it evolved since the ’70s?
A: This is our 50th year in business. It’s interesting how the business has changed over 50 years. My mom used to tell us when we were kids, and she’s not wrong, that our livelihood rests on the shoulders of 18- to 22-year-old football players because we are football driven. No matter what, we can have a great basketball season, baseball season, gymnastics — we love all of the other sports — but truly, what drives the business is football. Right now, obviously, this is a great time for the fan base and for local businesses. But, you know, we’ve survived 50 years, so we survived some bad years, too.
Q: How has University Spirit adjusted to the growing popularity of custom apparel and self-made designs?
A: We are part of a group of other independent, locally owned businesses like ours at other schools, and this group of people, who’ve also become like our friends and family, shares a lot of ideas. Part of that is designs. It’s trends. Sharing with each other. Sometimes, we’ll ask our staff members, “Here’s a design that’s working great at XYZ school. Do you see it being successful here?” So it’s really trying to stay on top of the trends.
Q: Have you found it more difficult to draw people in here when they could get it on Etsy?
A: It is challenging when you come up against Etsy and those sorts of things. We try to put as much as we can on our website because you cannot compete as a brick-and-mortar store against someone who can sit in bed at 2 a.m. and order online. That’s why we try to make sure we have an online option, but then they can come pick it up and save on shipping. You know, each sorority will have someone who is better at designs than we might be, or they have something unique that they want just for their sorority, which I love. We just look at what we do in that area of the business as supplementing it — whether it’s somebody who forgot to order for the sorority or parents or friends who come in. So we just kind of look at it as a supplemental add-on for those groups who do their own.
Q: What unique advantages does University Spirit offer that personalized and online alternatives can’t match?
A: Again, I keep talking about customer service, but we can answer any question face-to-face or over the phone. We just really try. That’s, I guess, how we differentiate — we’re here seven days a week, 365 days a year. If they have a question or a problem, it’s not like you’re ordering from somewhere and don’t know where it’s coming from. You don’t know if your order comes in wrong, how it can be rectified. So I think that’s what sets us apart — we’re online, but we’re also here in Athens.
Comments trimmed for length and clarity.
Jacey Wood is a public relations major covering business.
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