Zips Gear

[Zippy87]

The recent post about getting a Shammah jersey made me think to start this thread - where do you get your best Zips gear? I've had the most luck with Rally House in Fairlawn.

 

Is Akron Felt & Chenille still making Zips stuff?

[Reslife4Life]

23 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

The recent post about getting a Shammah jersey made me think to start this thread - where do you get your best Zips gear? I've had the most luck with Rally House in Fairlawn.

 

Is Akron Felt & Chenille still making Zips stuff?

Akron Felt is no more, the old owner didn't pay taxes for multiple years. One of the former employees started his own business doing the same thing. https://www.simos.cc/

He has totally rebuilt the business but is doing a great job, we use him to do all the repairs on the RubberDucks uniforms, highly recommend

[Reslife4Life]

The best Zips gear selection I ever saw was at the Salvation Army store on Brittain Rd last year, they had tons of brand new stuff donated from the bookstore. Not sure if they are gonna have more this year though

[Zippy87]

12 minutes ago, Reslife4Life said:

Akron Felt is no more, the old owner didn't pay taxes for multiple years. One of the former employees started his own business doing the same thing. https://www.simos.cc/

He has totally rebuilt the business but is doing a great job, we use him to do all the repairs on the RubberDucks uniforms, highly recommend

 

Does he make custom Zips gear like Akron Felt did? Some of my favorite items are still ones I had made there. I'd take a blank hoodie or shirt and get Akron logos out on.

Edited November 21, 2025 by Zippy87

[Reslife4Life]

2 minutes ago, Zippy87 said:

 

Does he make custom Zips gear like Akron Felt did? Some of my favorite items are still ones I had made there. I'd take a blank hoodie or shirt and get Akron logos out on.

I believe he can do that, they have done Guardians jersey customization for me in the past as well. They can do cadcut stuff in custom shapes and stuff so I believe so, although I don't know if they are partnered with UA

[Zips1991]

If you search "Akron Zips" on eBay and sort by newest items, you can sometimes find some good stuff that I assume is from former athletes and staff members. Other than that, the Bookstore website is decent but expensive.

[HoopsFan03]

Team shop at the football stadium. 

[ewbrooman1]

It's so ridiculous that we have to start a thread like this. You should be able to go into any area Walmart, JC Penney, Kohl's, Target, etc. and find a selection of merchandise. I don't get why the university keeps dropping the ball on this. Plus those posts about another new bland apparel piece are unexciting. Quit trying to maximize profit and sell most stuff through the bookstore. The idea is to get your name and logo out there in as many places as possible at reasonable prices then the money will come. Old man rant finished.

[akzipper]

On 11/21/2025 at 9:40 AM, Zips1991 said:

If you search "Akron Zips" on eBay and sort by newest items, you can sometimes find some good stuff that I assume is from former athletes and staff members. Other than that, the Bookstore website is decent but expensive.

 

So I'm not the only one that does this! 

 

I believe a lot of the extras/overruns end up there. I got a Zips football hoodie, basketball quarter zip and generic pullover. All Nike, brand new and probably cost $20ish each, if that. 

 

Also got a game worn football jersey for $80. 

[Zippy87]

5 hours ago, ewbrooman1 said:

It's so ridiculous that we have to start a thread like this. You should be able to go into any area Walmart, JC Penney, Kohl's, Target, etc. and find a selection of merchandise. I don't get why the university keeps dropping the ball on this. Plus those posts about another new bland apparel piece are unexciting. Quit trying to maximize profit and sell most stuff through the bookstore. The idea is to get your name and logo out there in as many places as possible at reasonable prices then the money will come. Old man rant finished.

 

It's been this way for years, too. You can't even buy a fitted hat with the current logo on it. It's crazy to me. 

[Captain Kangaroo]

2 hours ago, Zippy87 said:

It's been this way for years, too. You can't even buy a fitted hat with the current logo on it.

Consider yourself blessed.

[ZippyRulz]

Walmart's website actually has a lot of Zips stuff from affiliated sellers, albeit not athlete-specific and not necessarily walmart-cheap:

 

https://www.walmart.com/search?q=akron+zips&sort=price_low&page=2&affinityOverride=default

 

And you'll want a Rolex watch to go with it:

 

https://www.walmart.com/shop/clothing-and-accessories/pre-loved-new-arrivals?povid=ApparelNav_APPAREL_PrelovedFashion_Pills_Camp_Prelovednewarrivals

Edited November 25, 2025 by ZippyRulz

[ewbrooman1]

1 hour ago, ZippyRulz said:

Walmart's website actually has a lot of Zips stuff from affiliated sellers, albeit not athlete-specific and not necessarily walmart-cheap:

 

https://www.walmart.com/search?q=akron+zips&sort=price_low&page=2&affinityOverride=default

 

And you'll want some accessories:

 

https://www.walmart.com/shop/clothing-and-accessories/pre-loved-new-arrivals?povid=ApparelNav_APPAREL_PrelovedFashion_Pills_Camp_Prelovednewarrivals

I stopped buying athlete specific sports apparel when I got older than any of the athletes and that's been a while. I'd feel kind of silly wearing a 19 year old kid's jersey unless it was a special occasion like the Enrique jersey giveaway (which I was unable to get).

 

Edited November 24, 2025 by ewbrooman1

[Reslife4Life]

I haven’t been in a little bit but fan outfitters at the summit mall has expanded their zips collection. Mostly all the stuff you’d see online thru the fanatics universe in a store. I’ll upload pictures if I can’t figure out how to make them smaller files

Edited November 26, 2025 by Reslife4Life
Pics

[Reslife4Life]

Also this is sweet from the where I’m from store $63, cheaper than most hoodies in the bookstore/team shop 

[Zippy87]

Saw this at Dick's Sporting Goods in Fairlawn today. Odd color choice? 

[Reslife4Life]

I like it

[Zips1991]

I forgot to mention it at the time and maybe just thought it wasn't important but it seems to fit in this thread. On a recent Board of Trustees meeting that I watched part of, Goodrich stated that this is the last year of our Nike deal and he hinted we would be signing with someone else. He said something along the lines of "Nike doesn't value us as much as we value ourselves". I would like to go back to Adidas but I'm thinking someone like Under Armour may be more likely. As they have fewer schools in their portfolio and we could be a higher priority.

[Captain Kangaroo]

I’m done buying Zips gear until the Fordham AD’s fast food logo is crumpled up and tossed in the dumpster. Which would be criminal to do to any dumpster, but sometimes it sucks to be a dumpster.

[Reslife4Life]

I don’t want under armour because it puts us on the same level as Kent. If we can still use LeBron I’m all for going back to adidas 

[akzipper]

1 hour ago, Zips1991 said:

I forgot to mention it at the time and maybe just thought it wasn't important but it seems to fit in this thread. On a recent Board of Trustees meeting that I watched part of, Goodrich stated that this is the last year of our Nike deal and he hinted we would be signing with someone else. He said something along the lines of "Nike doesn't value us as much as we value ourselves". I would like to go back to Adidas but I'm thinking someone like Under Armour may be more likely. As they have fewer schools in their portfolio and we could be a higher priority.

 

Under Armour will always be associated with lower level colleges and high schools. They put all their money into Notre Dame and have very little else to show for it. Even Curry bailed. 

 

The biggest schools are all Nike, so it makes sense they don't care about Akron. But at least we get some Lebron gear out of the deal. Which is more than can be said about other outfitters. 

[kreed5120]

Swag (if that is even what the youth call it these days) probably doesn't have the same pull it did 10, 20 years ago. It might still heavily matter to the top players at the top schools because those players have NIL deals directly with Nike or Adidas. At the G5 level it's probably much more important whether or not the NIL check cashes vs. whether or not you're a Nike school.