Store owners Alisa Gonzalez and Ben Gonzalez pose with merchandise, which can be found at Vaquero Outfitters, located at 1518 W. University Drive in Edinburg. The store held its grand opening on March 8. Aura Velasquez/THE RIDER
Vaquero Outfitters is a privately owned business in partnership with UTRGV that offers apparel and merchandise, located at 1518 W. University Drive in Edinburg.
Alisa Gonzalez, an owner of Vaquero Outfitters and legacy institution University of Texas-Pan American alumni, said the store offers merchandise to dress the whole family.
“We have merchandise to outfit the entire family,” Gonzalez said. “… We have youth sizes. We also have pet gear.”
Students, faculty and staff can receive 10% off their purchase with a valid UTRGV ID.
All of the royalty fees of the licensed gear go directly to the university.
“All of the proceeds go to the university,” Gonzalez said. “… The royalty fees that we pay because we have licensed gear goes back to the university.”
The store is a separate entity from UTRGV.
“Vaquero Outfitters is the one who is paying for the paint, hardware, furniture, fixtures, the merch itself, all of that is solely Vaquero Outfitters,” Gonzalez said. “It is not [in] any way with the university.”
Merchandise at Vaquero Outfitters is exclusive and cannot be found at the UTRGV Campus Bookstore.
“We work with different vendors,” she said. “Our pricing is very comparable, if not less than the bookstore. We try to keep it very affordable for students.”
Aura Velasquez/THE RIDER
Gonzalez said she hopes the merchandise store will impact the community, not just fans.
“With the increase of the university and how big it’s gotten over the last several years, I feel like there is a need to be able to outfit not just fans, students, parents … not just for game day, just to see it out in our community,” she said.
Valeria Ortiz, a criminal justice sophomore, said she will attend the grand opening on March 8.
“I occasionally get some UTRGV merch around campus when they give some,” Ortiz said. “If not, I’ll go to the UTRGV [Campus] Bookstore in the [University] Library and I will be going to the grand opening on [March 8].”
The idea to open the store took place during the summer.
“In the summer, we went to drop off our son up at his college and we stopped at one of their fan shops and it was amazing,” Gonzalez said. “They had everything that you could think of.”
The owner of the store said that the communication process between the university and Vaquero Outfitters has been great.
“It has been really great from day one when we started with the idea,” she said. “The university admin and the athletic admin, they’ve been very, very supportive in this idea.”
Jonah Goldberg, senior associate athletic director for Communications and Championships, said Vaquero Outfitters will be a sponsor of UTRGV Athletics.
“Vaquero Outfitters will be a sponsor of UTRGV Athletics, which is exciting because that means they’ll be able to have brand activation at some of our games,” Goldberg said.
The merchandise complies with the university branding and licensing requirements through Collegiate Licensing Consultants and gets reviewed through University Marketing and Communications.
“Anytime they want to use institutional marks, they go through UMC and get it all approved,” Goldberg said.
He said he plans on visiting the store.
“I want to check it out,” Goldberg said. “… I’ll go with my kids when they’re out of school. They’re gonna love it. I’m sure we’re gonna walk away with a lot of stuff.”
Gonzalez wants to provide an alliance with the store and the university community.
“We want to be able to provide more of, you know, that pride in being able to show the spirit, to be able to show our alliance to UTRGV,” she said. “… We’re hoping to be able to provide options for our UTRGV community.”
The store’s shopping hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
A variety of UTRGV merchandise like drinkware, sportswear, accessories and pet clothing are in stock at Vaquero Outfitters, located at 1518 W. University Drive in Edinburg. Aura Velasquez/THE RIDER
