New Rocky’s Locker opens

The University of Toledo has opened a second location of Rocky’s Locker at the Franklin Park Mall.

The new location, which opened Nov. 10, is centrally located within the mall, in the same aisle as the food court. Though a smaller location than the original store in Savage Arena, the new location carries some of the same inventory along with framed memorabilia from Hall of Framers.

The idea of opening a second location has been around for a few years, but according to UT Associate Athletic Director for Finance and Business Operations Tony Zaworski, the timing was never quite right. Zaworski said UT’s climb into national attention was what prompted the decision to go forward with the initiative.

“People have said for years that there are not a lot of opportunities off campus to buy Toledo gear,” Zaworski said. “If it weren’t for Dr. Gaber and the excitement of everything that was going on with football, more national attention and everybody wanting to come in and look at our stuff, we probably would have let it go again this year and not taken the chance to go out there.”

Zaworski estimates that the average rent will be $2,000 a month, but he says that rent is higher during the holiday season and will cost around $8,300.

Kelsey Royer, a third-year speech-language pathology major, thinks the new location is great for Rocket supporters that do not have the opportunity to get to campus.

“Sometimes people that don’t go to UT want Rocket gear and really the only place to get it is on campus,” Royer said.

According to Zaworski, having a mall location will not only attract the intentional customer, but also the casual customer. Retail and Operations Supervisor Kayla Pieffer hopes it will create a sense of community.

“I want people to appreciate Toledo as much as I do. I think it goes along with what we’re trying to do, and bringing it into the mall is just letting people see who we are and what Toledo has to offer,” Pieffer said.

Franklin Park Mall was selected for the new store because of its central location, according to Zaworski.

“You figure, the mall is less than two miles from here but it exposes you to a much wider radius of people that are going to be going there on a regular basis, as opposed to here,” Zaworski said.Rocky’s Locker at Franklin Park has regular mall hours: Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Savage location is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., with extended hours on game days. Both locations offer a 20 percent student discount.