SEATTLE — Anything and everything purple and gold is flying off the shelves at local stores leading up to the College Football National Championship game.
University of Washington fans packed a UW staple Sunday afternoon, gearing up for the big match-up as the Dawgs face the Michigan Wolverines.
"I feel like for Husky fans Christmas keeps going this year," said Chris Rauls, the chief operating officer of the University Book Store, located in the heart of the U District.
The University of Washington Football team is the gift that keeps on giving. As purple reign continues to touch down on these UW fans.
“I've never seen anything like it in the years since I've been here," Rauls said.
He believes this title run the Huskies are on is causing the Dawg Pack, to pack this UW staple. Which is hitting record numbers in its more than 124-year history.
'We were double what we typically sell in December,” Rauls said. “We are in the first week of January, we sold eight times the merchandise that we sell on the first week of January. It's just been crazy we can barely keep the shelves stocked."
Rauls said this is the most UW merchandise sold since 2018 when the Huskies were heading to the 2019 Rose Bowl. In Sugar Bowl merch alone, the store is sold out, selling more than 10,000 items.
"A lot of people have discovered that they are Husky fans who are not traditional Husky fans," Rauls said. "We're getting orders from all over the United States maybe not from Michigan as much but definitely Ohio."
There's no denying many in town are ready to bow down.
"We've gotten on the bandwagon this year,” said Matt Coonan, who was shopping at the store Sunday afternoon. “We feel like it's Seattle's team and we live here in Seattle, so we're here to show our support."
There's still one more game to go, to wrap up this historic season.
"This is like a Husky holiday,” Rauls said. “Husky nation is in holiday mode and also there's a lot of gratitude toward the team."
