A Safe Place to Buy Your Letters
 

After reading that GreekConcepts thread, I really would hesitate to buy things from any of the Internet purveyors of Greek goods. I'm lucky though, that I can just buy my Delta Zeta stuff from DZ DeZigns , which is owned and operated by the sorority. I never worry about getting ripped off and the customer service is incredible.

Do any other GLO's have something like this? I know that Chi Omega has Chi-O Creations. I think it's a great idea.

We have licensed vendors that we can go through for some nice stuff, but basic things, like an appliqued sweatshirt, I usually go through the local Greek store. One of the few advantages of living in a college town!

I ordered a shirt from greekclothing.com. One hasn't come yet, though. :( A bit of caution though, their sizes run big.

Phi Mu has the Carnation Collection Online, and we were actually the first to have online ordering and payment. Some of the stuff is a little too pink for my tastes, but it is obviously great quality and service.

Alpha Gamma Delta has The Rose Garden. The merchandise comes from R C Sportswear. It's a little on the high side price wise, but not too bad. You can order stuff on line.

I would say it's definitely worth taking a road trip to another school to get letters, etc if your Greek school really sucks. You can see the stuff in person and if they make it in-house and screw it up, you can deal with it without sending crap back, etc. Plus you can visit the chapter there at the same time! :)

Our "licensed vendor" does make nice stuff, but I really don't have an extra arm & leg to use paying for it.

Sigma Kappa has the Violet Boutique, run by Nationals so we know it's safe and reliable :-)

Personally, Im a big fan of unique impressions, which is run, i believe, by a University of Delaware book store. The catch is that you have to order the magazine (for free), and their letters tend to run a little pricey. But the trade off is good quality and a wide range of letters (my personal favorite being the pink leopard). Intrested? Just go to www.uniqueonline.com .

AFAIK, AEPhi nationals doesn't run a store :( but I went to school in the biggest and best college town in the world :) and we had a pretty good store where we could buy stuff.

It's easy enough to make your own letters, though... just buy a nice T-shirt or sweatshirt, go to your local fabric store and pick out something you like, buy the material (you don't need much), cut out your letters, and stitch them on. It's a lot cheaper than going to a Greek store, and fairly easy if you have any sewing skills whatsoever.

That's a big "if" where I am concerned! lol For the safety of all involved, I need to stick to buying my letters ;)

I totally agree Laura! I went the other day to find some stuff around Baton Rouge for Beta and they looked at me as if I had grown another head. I'm still looking for somewhere online or off that carries Beta merchandise. Wish me luck.

Thy Sister,
Bernadette

We have one run through Beta. Its through Alpha House and its got some pretty cool stuff. The only thing is you cant customize it. We have a greek store at the university mall next to George Mason and its a pretty good place to shop. You can get pretty creative and order your own stuff.

We had a woman come to our meetings a few times and she carries a line of Sorority gifts. I don't know that she does it nationally but if I find out I'll let you all know.
I purchased a large sum of things from her 2 years ago and walked away with it that night! Things like...
- Chi Omega Greek Lettered Pillow Case
- Chi Omega plant pot
- Chi Omega Owl Ceramic Onrament (Hangs from my rearview mirror)
- Buttons
- Notepads
- Bumperstickers

Perhaps some of us that go alum should seek doing similar things in our towns/cities. I don't know about you all, but I feel better buying from a GREEK than someone who just has a company with GREEK in it.

Hootie

Yikes!
 

Hootie, be careful with this! I had a ceramic turtle ornament hanging from the rear view mirror of my Miata in college and I stopped suddenly and the darn thing cracked the windshield!

Re: Yikes!
 

Funny enough I've had a crack in my windshield since my freshman year of College (two years before I bought it). But thanks for the advice!
LOL!

Hootie

We have Sigmaration, run through nationals, but my chapter orders most of our stuff from the local stores here in town that carry Greek stuff. I guess that's because we have my college right in town and another college right down the road. But I love being able to walk down to the store and order my letters there, plus get anything else I need. :)

letters
 

My chapter are mad letter-makers. I know I have at least ten sets becuase I keep making new ones. I know everyone doesn't have sewing talent, but it's pretty easy to learn. We have a sewing machine set up in our sorority room so we can all go down and make them whenever. Usually when one person makes one eveyone gets the fever. We have them in all different sizes and styles. Sometimes we make our own patterns. For those of you that have never made your own before, here's a tip: when you get fabric at the store, buy an adheisve (I personally prefer Stich-Witchery, it's excellent) to adhear your letters to your shirt before you sew. Then all you have to do is sew around the edges because it stays put!

In terms of buying them though, ColorMeGreek comes once a semester with three big boxes of stuff and we buy what we want from there. I only bought one shirt from that thopugh because it's expensive and I like making my letters more personal to me, not just plaid. Our school store stinks because we are such a small school so we drive all the way out to Slippery Rock to get our goodies like waterbottles, keychains, etc. That can be a pain, plus we all end up having the same stuff. I'm lucky though, I live in Dayton and I go home to a store on UD's campus that has really cute stuff that no one else has. But I do definetely recommend trying to sew your own letters sometime. It's so much cheaper and it allows you to express yourself with cute fabrics.:p

Re: letters
 

I think this is a great idea. I personally don't sew (or get into anything too "craft" oriented). When I pledged, I had a "twin". Her mom made matching letter shirts for her, our big & myself- so we had 'family' shirts. It was a really cool idea, and let us stand out a bit.

APO has it's own online store where Brothers can shop for letters and other paraphernalia. There is a link to it on our national website www.apo.org

Tri Delta has the Delta shop, but as a chapter we have yearly visits from fratrow.com. Every sorority at our school has them visit, they have cute shirts, stationary, etc. They also custom make letters that are really nice and well made.

We carry a great selection of letter jerseys. Unfortunately it takes 3-4 weeks for us to deliver them as each one is made one at a time, but we think the selection of fabrics is great and so are the cute styles.

http://greekgifts.safeshopper.com/137/cat137.htm

As a National Officer I have this thought? Does your organization require that the items sold in stores you shop be licensed? If so...are the products your buying licensed? You may want to check...
Sigmaration is great and have some wonderful things.

Delta Gamma has the "Anchor Trader" store through our nationals...

I buy Kappa stuff through the Key Source, 'cause I'm one of those people that has a hard time threading a needle. I got a few things from Color Me Greek when I was in college, and I still have a sweatshirt I got from them about five years ago that looks great (but is now too big :().

I'm not sure if Kappa as a fraternity requires that a store be licensed, but I know I won't buy from any place that isn't.

New Patriotic letters
 

We have just introduced a new Patriotic Letter Jersey and thought those who posted on this thread might be interested. In addition to being professionally machine appliqued on 100% cotton Hanes Beefy Ts, the shirts are available in just 7-10 days!
The patriotic jersey comes in two styles, Flag Letters or Flag Fabric. Take a look!

http://greekgifts.safeshopper.com/137/1683.htm

Katherine Williams
Greek Gifts, Etc.
Your dependable source for fine quality
sorority and fraternity merchandise and more!

AOII has the Emporium that is online (www.aoiiemporium.com) and in HQ. I plan on picking up some stuff while I'm down there this next week. They also run internet specials which are sometimes REALLY good, e-mail newsletter specials, etc. I have never had a problem with an order, shipping, etc.

Sarah

P.S. How long has Phi Mu's Carnation Collection been online. I know AOIIs has been for at least the past 3+ years. Just curious

Re: Yikes!
 

That's one tough turtle, Killarney! :D :D :D

Theta has the "Pansy Peddler."