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NewsvineThe shelves at the Stanford Student Store are a little more colorful this year, now that the student-owned and operated retail outlet is selling Rainbow sandals, the popular brand of flip flops seen on the feet of students all across campus.
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“Our decision to sell Rainbow Sandals was made as one of our attempts to win over the student market,” Bennett Hauser ‘10, general manager of the Stanford Student Store told The Daily. “So far, both Rainbow sandals and the Cal Sucks [t-shirt] program have led this initiative to serve the students.”
He acknowledged that the Stanford Store faces competition from the centrally located and well-known Stanford Bookstore, and as a result, student executives at the store are planning to draw back some of their business. Through a series of focus groups, the Stanford Store executives learned that students wanted them to sell products that were not offered by the Bookstore.
“When I saw that the Bookstore started carrying Stanford Crocs,” Hauser said, “I decided that our store needed to have a comparable product that students actually would wear.”
Rainbows were a natural choice. Hauser, himself a convert to Rainbows from the popular sandal brand Reef, said that once stocked, the flip-flops were an immediate best-seller. About 100 pairs have been sold since they arrived at the store in mid-September.
“People like Rainbow sandals because they are incredibly comfortable and long-lasting,” he explained. “The company is relatively small and has gone into competition against the big time flip-flop companies, refusing to be bought out.”
The company that sells Rainbows is also enthusiastic about the retail arrangement. Pat Huber, a marketing spokesman for Rainbow, told The Daily in an email that selling Rainbows in student stores nationwide is an ideal situation for the company, but it often fails to be realized because of the large contracts Rainbow has with larger corporate retail entities — often bookstores — on various campuses.
Huber was unsure of the number of student stores currently carrying the sandals, but named UCLA and USC as other schools where the shoes are available. Roughly 0.25 percent of Rainbow’s total revenue comes from these student store accounts, he said, while an estimated 20 percent of the company’s business comes from college students. Responding to claims that the shoes are “trendy,” Huber agreed, but clarified the trend’s impetus.
“They’re trendy because once you buy and wear a pair, you’ll never switch to anything else,” he said.
Last August, Afeef Ahmed ‘10, merchandising manager for the Stanford Store, placed an order for Rainbow sandals as part of a larger plan to create repeat customers for the business. The store now carries both models of the signature leather sandal as well as a hemp sandal in a variety of sizes. In addition, students can browse the entire Rainbow catalogue on the Stanford Store’s Web site and order flip-flops for pick-up on campus.
According to Ahmed, the Stanford Store is the only Rainbow vendor who is approved to sell below the company’s minimum resale value. By showing their ID, students receive 10 percent off that minimum price, making the store the cheapest outlet around. This brings the classic men’s model of Rainbow sandals down to just under $40.
“We’re the cheapest place you can get Rainbow sandals,” he said. “Cheaper than [Rainbow’s] Web site.”
The store has sold roughly 10-15 pairs of Rainbows each week, necessitating reorders almost every week, Ahmed added.
“We’re the Stanford store and we obviously want to carry things with the Stanford name on it,” he said. “But we also want things that people are going to need during the school year and Rainbow sandals are one example of that.”
The store is doing much better than last year, Ahmed said, and the increased sales may be partly attributed to Rainbow sandals.
“As long as they keep selling well,” he said, “I think they’re going to be something that we’ll offer for a while.”