Federated Department Stores Inc. (Cincinnati) is stuck with a bunch of “Ohio State champion” T-shirts it printed up for distribution in Columbus, Ohio, stores following the upset in the national football college championship game Monday night.
According to a report in the Cincinnati Enquirer, executives of the company's Macy's division chose to print up those T-shirts, proclaiming favored Ohio State the national football champions, and deliver them to three stores in suburban Columbus (home of the university), rather than waiting for the outcome of the game.
The outcome of the game, of course, was a 41-14 drubbing by the underdog University of Florida over the Number One-ranked, undefeated Buckeyes.
“We wanted to ensure that our customers were able to get the official T-shirts immediately after the game,” said a Macy's spokeswoman. “It's a risk we were willing to take because it gives us a competitive edge.”
The shirts never hit the floor, another Macy's spokeswoman said. She would not say how many shirts were preprinted or how much the preprint cost.
Macy's stores in Florida didn't take the same risk. “We were printing 'championship' shirts in the fourth quarter last night,” said a spokeswoman for Macy's Florida. “They're coming into stores right now.”