North Texas Daily

Sydney Davis / Intern

Barefoot Athletics, a shop that carries both UNT and Texas Women’s University merchandise, has recently opened on the Square in Denton.

The store was opened to provide students with an alternative location to purchase clothing with UNT and TWU logos.

Aside from the Denton location, stores are also located in Fredericksburg, Huntsville, and Stephenville, where the company opened its first store.

Denton store manager Meredeth Persinger said they opened a store in Denton because it is an “untouched market.”

“There aren’t a lot of places for UNT and TWU students to get clothing with their school logos,” Persinger said. “University apparel stores can get expensive, so we try to make it affordable for college students.”

Short sleeve shirts cost about $15 at Barefoot and hooded sweatshirts start at about $25. UNT’s university bookstore has shirts and sweatshirts similarly priced, but offers more variety including a larger price range.

In order to sell UNT apparel, Barefoot needed support from the Collegiate Licensing Company.

“Every garment is approved by UNT first,” Persinger said. “They also get a portion of the profit.”

According to the Denton Record-Chronicle, the university gets 10 percent of the profit from both UNT and TWU apparel.

The company got its start eight years ago as an athletic apparel store in Stephenville.

“We sold every kind of sporting apparel but shoes, so it was named Barefoot because without shoes, that’s what you are,” Persinger said.

Barefoot in Denton has been open for more than a month, and its apparel is no longer sport gear, but university apparel for the students in the area.

UNT visitor experience manager Jennifer McLendon said Barefoot is “a fun company that is really making an effort to get involved in UNT and the Denton community.”

The store provided T-shirts for the workers of UNT Preview Day, and also gave 100 free shirts for I Heart UNT Day with the Alumni Association and 200 free shirts for Mean Green Pride Day, Persinger said.

“We also try to go to campus once or twice every two weeks,” she said. “It’s still a slow process while opening, so it helps to put ourselves out in front of people to get the word out.”

General studies senior Jose Tellez received two shirts from Barefoot.

“They are super comfortable and they have lots of different styles,” he said. “There’s a little bit of everything for everyone.”

The store has a different ambiance to it. With wood interior and an antique yet comfortable atmosphere, old-fashioned style and Texas country mesh to form a unique Denton feel inside the store.

“It’s a lifestyle, not just a store,” Persinger said. “We wanted an atmosphere that encourages students to just come in and hang out.”

Visit barefootretail.com for more information, or visit the store located off the square at 207 N. Elm St.