DULUTH, Minn.– Thursday morning, the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference made the decision to suspend all sports for the rest of the calendar year, and the impact goes beyond the field or the court at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

UMD will soon have students back for the first time since March. One of the busiest places on campus during that time is the UMD Bookstore, where students can buy apparel to cheer on the Bulldogs.

But without a majority of its sports playing for the rest of 2020, those at the UMD Bookstore are expecting sales to dip this year.

“It will have some impact but we’re hoping as we know that we have great fans in the community that the community will continue to purchase those items. And continue to support the campus, continue to support the university,” said Jeff Romano, Director of UMD Stores.

Another portion of the school’s apparel sales come from the games themselves and having the bookstore open when UMD hosts athletic camps. Two things the bookstore won’t get to do for the rest of this year.

“There’s nothing like coming in and shopping in the store and picking out your items,” said Romano.

Omar Salea is a senior at UMD. He knows how busy it can be at the bookstore, especially when students are returning for the fall and want to buy the latest gear.

But he thinks this year the bookstore is going to look different due to the pandemic.

“I think it’s going to be extremely different,” said Salea. “we’re not going to be used to it with not a lot of people are going to be buying apparel as much as last year.”

While it may be different, those at the bookstore say you don’t have to be at a game to support athletics at UMD.

“We’re still open, we still have products. You can still support football in a different way even though you’re not attending their games,” said Romano.

The bookstore will be increasing their hours in the weeks leading up to the fall semester. They’ll be monitoring activity to see if those hours need to change.