Coming in mid April, Tailgate Clothing Co. will open doors to their second store location in downtown Iowa City.
February 14, 2014
Photo courtesy of Steve King, Tailgate Clothing Co.
Coming in April, Tailgate Clothing Co. will open their doors in the first floor of the Grossix Building in downtown Iowa City. The store provides a fresh take on college apparel, combining vintage styles with collegiate logos.
Tailgate Clothing Co. originated in Ames, Iowa in Dennis Snyder’s basement with the help of his son, Todd. Their hobby of making and selling shirts for college sports fans in the back of Snyder’s car at games became something more, in 1997 when Todd Snyder was working at Polo Ralph Lauren with his friend, Steve King, in New York City. The two decided that there was a need for high-quality classic college apparel.
“The focus was on recreating vintage college and classic american sportswear by incorporating vintage manufacturing methods, workmanship, and attention to detail,” said Steve King, operations manager of Tailgate.
Tailgate Clothing. Co will sell apparel from over 100 colleges and universities around the United States anywhere from the New York University Violets to the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. Along with college apparel, Tailgate will offer shirts with local prints such as “The Airliner” and “PBS”.
“We will offer a curated assortment of classic collegiate apparel such as sweatshirts, t-shirts, thermals and fashion knits” said Steve King, operations manager of Tailgate. “This product assortment will include both men’s and women’s styles with a focus on vintage inspired graphics.”
In addition to clothing, Tailgate will also sell wool stadium blankets, leather footballs, and other unique items, setting themselves apart from other collegiate apparel stores in downtown Iowa City.
“Tailgate recreates classic american styles with updated fits while focusing on vintage washes to create your favorite old school clothing,” said King. “With our attention to detail and quality of our products, it will be the clothing which will stand out.”
The average price of a vintage shirt at Tailgate ranges from $34-$42 and sweatshirts ranging from $75-$79.
The Iowa City location will be the second Iowa location for Tailgate. Their headquarters are in Ankeny, IA. The popularity of University of Iowa clothing is what prompted their desire to open a store in Iowa City.
“The University of Iowa has a great athletic program with a long and storied history and a very loyal fan base,” said King. “This combination makes it the perfect place for us to launch our first collegiate retail store.”
Your donation will support the student journalists of Iowa City High School. For 2023, we are trying to update our video and photo studio, purchase new cameras and attend journalism conferences.