DOVER — A new, private collegiate apparel and merchandise line is helping Delaware State University (DSU) discover a unique field of opportunities after leaders planted the seeds for its own generational wealth and revenue growth in a first-of-its-kind move for Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU).
Dr. Dawn Mosley, DSU’s senior associate vice president of marketing and communications, said she and her team have been working for the better part of a year to create, design, market and perfect the new apparel and merchandise line that is owned by DSU and distributed by Everything Collegiate, complete with its newest logo which was created through rebranding efforts in 2023.
Prior to owning its own line of merchandise, DSU worked with distributors who did the design and handled sales – all DSU had to do was ensure they had the correct logo and approve the final designs. This method meant little in terms of revenue from royalties for the university.
“I started noticing that I really wasn’t seeing what our consumer wanted from six months old to 99. We really do have customers at every level – clothing, rugs, tents, it’s everything. And I started to notice a shift in that quality. . . Although we appreciate the partnerships, it really didn’t resonate with what our students and alumni wanted,” Mosley told the Delaware Business Times.
“One day, I was in a local store and I noticed that there were only two items hanging on the rack for options for Delaware State University. But some of our neighboring universities had racks full,” she added.
It was that moment that really had Mosley thinking into the future of DSU’s own branding. With previous experience in creating merchandise under her belt, she explored the idea of what DSU could accomplish if it dreamed bigger in terms of merchandise.
“It hit me – why don’t we have our own brand? It’s not necessarily a new concept. There are universities that have whole departments dedicated to selling their own private brand,” she said. “But it occurred to me that I had never seen this done for an HBCU.”
Terance Harmon, the longtime owner and operator of Everything Collegiate, told Mosley that, at least in his company, he had also never experienced an HBCU creating its own merchandising brand, complete with its own tag on the apparel. He was excited to work with the team to make the dream a reality.
“This partnership marks a significant milestone in our journey,” Harmon said in the press release from DSU. “Our goal has always been to support and uplift HBCUs, and working with DSU has been a fulfilling step in that direction. I am excited to work with DSU on this historic move.”
Everything Collegiate, a black-owned business based in Atlanta, Ga., currently holds more than 85 brand licenses for a variety of groups including colleges, societies and fraternities alike. They also work with more than 60 colleges as a primary vendor, including 39 HBCUs.
The partnership it now has with DSU will differ compared to its other partnerships as DSU will maintain control over everything brand-related short of direct distribution and front-end, customer service calls and orders from consumers which will all be handled by Everything Collegiate.
“When I asked Terance if he could help, he said, ‘Dawn, that is crazy. I have never had anybody ask me that question. That is incredible. I said, ‘Can this be done and are you willing?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I’d be willing and I’d love to help with this,’” Mosley told DBT. “It just goes to show you there’s still good ideas out there.”
While Mosley and her team at DSU, along with Harmon’s team at Everything Collegiate, worked to perfect this new, first-of-its-kind brand for DSU, the students and alumni also played an instrumental role in the development of the new merchandise.
To help launch the new line of goods, students were asked to model clothing items during a photoshoot and help market the products on social media as brand ambassadors. A contest will also be held soon through which students and alumni can submit designs for limited edition products to be sold in the merchandise brand, Mosley said. She also said she often gets stopped now in the parking lot by students, or fields emails or other forms of communication, with ideas on design or improvements or simply asking where they can purchase the products.
“My job as a chief brand officer, if you will, is to make sure that the brand is consistent with where we are. I just didn’t see it in all of our spaces. Now you can,” she told DBT.
DSU’s privately branded merchandise will be available soon on Amazon Marketplace and can already be found on Walmart.com and other places online. Five percent of all sales will fund scholarships used at the university with the first round of awarded funds to be distributed next spring.
“I expect it to be, for our revenue share, more in the first three months than we received all year [from other merchandise royalties]. . . Before, it was a quarterly payment to us with no control. This is a more business-minded approach for brand management. Collegiate wear is a multibillion-dollar business. We have to be involved at the beginning of the discussion and at the back end of the revenue,” Mosley told DBT, adding that she expects revenue from merchandise sales to quadruple for the university this year and said some designs have already sold out within a week of the launch.
“To know you’re spending your dollars on something that’s coming back to the university to support scholarships, I think there’s power in that and knowing that the prices are within reach,” she said. “And it’s important for us to pass that entrepreneur mindset along to our students. You don’t have to give it away; you can have control over your brand. This is a holistic approach. We could continue to do what we were doing or we could take a chance at changing the way things were going. We have to own it. And why wouldn’t we? We are Delaware State University and have been since 1891. This is a proud, humbling moment.”
