| | Associated Press
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Ever wanted your favorite room to be a
collegiate-school color but you just couldn't find the paint? If
you're a University of Tennessee fan, your search is just about
over.
Specially licensed and formulated Tennessee Orange wall paint is
going on sale starting Saturday at Home Depot stores in Knoxville,
and maybe soon elsewhere. It's being billed as the first mass
marketing of collegiate-coordinated paint.
"We are having some fun with it. We hope it goes over big. But
we will see," said Don Harrison, spokesman for the Atlanta-based
do-it-yourself chain.
He emphasized Wednesday that this is a pilot program, a
"one-university test" limited to the Knoxville area.
But if Volunteer faithful live up to expectations -- Tennessee
ranks No. 3 among Collegiate Licensing Co.'s 160 university clients
in sales -- Tennessee Orange could one day be picked up at any of
Home Depots' 960 stores nationwide.
And where Tennessee Orange leads, such colors as Carolina Blue,
Michigan Blue, Notre Dame Gold, Ohio State Red, South Carolina
Gamecock Red, Auburn Orange, Kentucky Blue, Alabama Crimson,
Florida Royal Blue and Georgia Tech Gold may follow.
The program was dreamed up by Castles Sport, an Atlanta
wholesaler of high-fashion clothing that carry sports logos.
"I wouldn't want to put a limit on it," Joe Hutchinson,
Tennessee's representative at Collegiate Licensing Co., said of the
potential demand for Vol Orange paint. "I know people throughout
the region bleed Tennessee Orange."
A secretary in Tennessee's athletics department was delighted
with the news. She said she gets calls all the time from fans
searching for just the right shade of orange.
Brian Beardsley, the university's licensing coordinator, said he
had just finished building a house when the paint marketing deal
was negotiated. Colleagues teased him that Tennessee Orange would
be perfect. He declined.
"Well, you have no idea how much orange I see in a day,"
Beardsley explained. "So this is something that is not for me. But
we trust there are a lot of fans out there who are going to want to
jump on this."
Harrison said it was only coincidental to Tennessee's selection
that Home Depot's principal color also is orange.
"If it is close to the Home Depot color, then it is, indeed,
close to our heart," he said. "But it is Volunteer Orange that
will be available." | |
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