It was 4:00 p.m. on Saturday evening, and the place was packed. People were walking around in a frenzied mess, and the lines were adding up. No, this wasn’t any of the bars on Green St. – it was TIS College Bookstore.

This picture was a reflection of many stores on Green St. – tE shirt, Follet’s Bookstore and Gameday, where people were frantically shopping last-minute for Illini gear.

For all the benefits that come out of the Illini’s storied trip to the Final Four, one of the biggest boosts goes to the clothing and merchandise industry in Champaign.

“Anytime you have a team that has been successful as they have been all year long, being No. 1, winning the Big Ten, and making the Final Four, it’s the chance of a lifetime,” said John Lee, store manager at tE shirt. “Even when they went back in 89′, it didn’t captivate people as much as they had this year, and just from the Final Four, business has increased by double or maybe triple.”

People have been clamoring all week to grab a piece of this historic trip to the Final Four, and it seems to have brought about a tremendous amount of school pride, where everyone’s making sure they’re sporting their orange and blue.

“I’m buying a sweatshirt, a t-shirt and Final Four pendant, and I already have a lot of regular Illini gear,” said Clara Myles, freshman in ACES. “If they win the national championship, I’ll buy a lot of championship gear too, but if they lose, I’ll still keep all this stuff.”

All the merchandise flying off the racks left some Illini fans wanting on Saturday.

“I wanted to buy a Dee Brown jersey, but they didn’t have any left,” said Ameya Patankar, sophomore in LAS. “It kind of sucks, but I ended up buying three t-shirts instead, and at least I’ll have something to wear while watching the game.”

The increase in business has created more competition. On Fourth St., in front of Colonial Pantry, Dale Silver has setup a tent where he’s also selling Illini gear.

“A friend of mine was doing it and having a good time, making some money, so I decided to give it a shot, ” said Silver. “I’ve done a couple other events, like selling shirts at Mardi Gras.”

Business has been booming, even for Silver’s tent which is minute compared to the other stores on campus.

“The t-shirts have been flying off the shelves,” said Silver. “I’ve lived in Champaign for my whole life. This is great from a fan’s point and business, and I’m terribly excited.”

The sales bonanza will go up another notch if the basketball team wins the national championship, and the preparations are already being made.

“We expect it to be bigger than what we just went through last week,” said John Tishner, store manager at TIS. “We’ve placed an order for thousands upon thousands of gear. If they win, that evening they start printing all night long, and we start getting them that night or early in the morning, so we can be ready first-thing Tuesday morning.”

The only thing that could sour this whole experience is if the Illini lose on tonight.

“It would be worse from a fan’s standpoint if they lost because they’ve been No.1 all year long, and you get to thinking that it’s our year, ” Lee said. “If it doesn’t happen, it’ll be somewhat of a letdown, but just having the opportunity to make it to the Final Four was beyond my wildest dreams.”