The ISU Book Store has ISU-themed clothing options that include polos, sweaters, fleece vests and more. Photos by Christopher Gannon.
For the first time, colleges and departments have an on-campus option for providing Iowa State-themed clothing to employees. The ISU Book Store launched a line of licensed workwear on Dec. 1. The collection includes polos, plaid shirts, cardigans, fleece jackets and vests, bomber jackets and soft-shell jackets for men and women in preapproved university colors.
Questions?
For additional information on the employee workwear program, contact Chloe Bohl at 294-5668 or cbohl@iastate.edu.
"This program makes the process simplified, more efficient, offers bulk ordering to lower the price and is more inclusive," said ISU Book Store director Rita Phillips.
Currently, the seven colleges are preapproved to use either the Iowa State University wordmark or the I-State logo with the name of their college underneath on all garment options. Departments wanting their name on the garment will have to go through the approval process, but once approved it remains valid.
Phillips said the bookstore invested more than $2,500 in a sample set -- each item in sizes extra small to 4X -- so employees can try on different sizes before they buy. Employees should select their correct size before ordering because sales are final.
"Once the product is ordered, it is final because we can't return it and we can't sell shirts from specific departments on the sales floor," she said.
Phillips said the bookstore will monitor which items are popular and which sell less frequently and adjust with new options. The intent is to provide a simple option for logoed clothing for employees, but departments still have the option of using a licensed vendor outside of the university for workwear.
Discounts start at seven pieces
To order, go to the bookstore website and view the workwear catalog, confirm sizing in the bookstore and place the order. Each department can decide how often it will place an order, but Phillips said most have settled between quarterly and twice a year. The bookstore will place a monthly order with the vendor, and garments should be received the following month.
Phillips recommends departments place orders of at least seven garments to take advantage of pricing discounts. Bigger discounts are available at 32, 48 and 100 units. Orders do not need to be the same item to qualify for the discount. Mixing and matching is allowed and the reduced price will be honored as long as there is a minimum of seven items with the same logo.
"Employees can order individual workwear items, but it may be better to wait if your department has a bulk order coming up in the next month or two, or go in with a few other employees to get the bulk pricing," Phillips said.
Departments making the order will apply a worktag in the Google document, while employees pay through their U-bill. To help the program run smoothly, each department has a designated workwear coordinator who attended a Zoom training on the new process. Phillips said the bookstore will deliver bulk orders to departments. Employees with an individual order will be notified to pick it up in the store.
Departments -- and employees -- can order workwear through the ISU Book Store website. The bookstore stocked samples ranging from extra small to 4X for each clothing item so employees can determine the correct size before they place an order.
