1 Jan, 2018 → by ClaimboUser502362
unequal advertising
2
I recently went into the Academy Sports and Outfitters located here in Wichita Falls, TX to shop for items for school for my two high school students. I was very disappointed to realize that this Academy did not sell any school apparel for Hirschi High School. Wichita Falls has three public high schools in town but they only had a display of items from the other two high schools ranging from basketball shorts to hoodies with the school logo on them. I asked Kim, who was very helpful, why Academy did not stock and sell Hirschi HS apparel. She stated that they do not sell enough Hirschi HS merchandise and the “buyers” decided not to purchase any more of these items. I relayed to Kim that Hirschi students would not have been disappointed if Academy chose to purchase a SMALL amount of Hirschi merchandise, but to not purchase any merchandise was a slap in the face to my children who are proud to attend Hirschi HS as well as the other students, teachers, alumni, etc. I also mentioned that of course Academy did not sell as much Hirschi HS merchandise as they did for the other schools because the other High Schools have double the students at WFHS and almost triple the number at Rider HS. The fact that Academy did not purchase any Hirschi merchandise due to the fact that they did not sell very much merchandise was very frustrating to me since they have sold Hirschi apparel in the past.(which I have bought and many other people have bought since I see them wearing the same shirts in the community and at different functions that I purchased at Academy) If Academy is part of the Wichita Falls community, I believe that they need to represent the WHOLE community. Sometimes businesses make decisions that is just good PR for the community even though they may not make tons of money on a certain project. I definitely understand that the 600-700 students enrolled at Hirschi HS is a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of students which attend the other two public High Schools in the city, but you would think that just so Academy would not alienate a particular set of people, they would at least make a minimal effort to order some merchandise to represent each public high school. I guess Academy does not realize that Hirschi High school students, parents, alumni, supporters and friends buy more items besides just Hirschi merchandise at Academy. Just two weeks ago my daughter and I ran into Academy and spent almost $100 on items she needed for Volleyball camp. My children and I came upon the High School display after shopping for school shoes, soccer cleats, back packs and pool supplies. Not looking for Hirschi apparel at the time, but after seeing the HS display we were very interested in purchasing some items for school. After speaking with Kim, as pleasant as she was, I left the store without purchasing anything! If Academy does not care to represent each public school in the community, then I do not care to spend my money at Academy. If the 600-700 students stopped shopping at Academy including the parents, alumni, supporters and friends, I wonder if all of a sudden it would suddenly become in Academy’s best interest to represent each public high school! I can definitely say that I am telling this story to everyone I come in contact with. People who are Hirschi supporters or not! Even some of the students and parents who attend the other high schools were shocked about Academy’s deliberate decision to exclude Hirschi High School merchandise from their purchase list.