Wards Road Walmart among company’s top sellers of NCAA gear

When Walmart (U.S.) president and CEO Bill Simon spoke at Liberty University’s Convocation on Jan. 30, 2012, President Jerry Falwell put a good word in for James Hornsby, general manager of the Lynchburg Walmart located directly across Wards Road from campus.

“Jerry Falwell gave our CEO the ultimate compliment, saying ‘We really appreciate what Walmart is doing for Liberty’s brand,’” Hornsby recalled. “Bill Simon looked at me and said, ‘Keep it up.’”

Apparently, Hornsby took his boss’s encouraging words to heart. Since then, sales of Liberty Athletics apparel have skyrocketed to the point that the Wards Road Walmart now consistently ranks among the franchise’s top sellers of NCAA athletic gear in the country.

While it does sell a few Lynchburg College and Randolph College T-shirts and hats, the majority of the NCAA merchandise sold out of Hornsby’s store has a Liberty logo on it. Liberty refined its brand for use in its athletic logos, current wordmarks, and other visual branding elements in early 2013.

“Sales really spiked because everybody wants the new merchandise,” Hornsby said. “The No. 1 focus of any corporation is its brand. When you think of Walmart, you think of the spark. When you think of Target, you think of the bullseye. When you think of Liberty, you think of LU. It’s about getting Liberty’s brand out.”

Hornsby, a born-again Christian whose daughter Susan (’11) and son Matt (’14) are Liberty graduates, started working with Liberty’s Director of Athletics Marketing Kevin Keys and the university’s licensing group to produce Flames athletic gear in 2007.

“I can’t tell you how many people ask for it,” Hornsby said as the store geared up for Liberty’s season-opening football game last week. “We really count on the college students, as well as graduates and locals that go to Liberty football games. There are so many Liberty graduates now that live in Lynchburg and as the school’s become successful, more and more people are jumping on board.”

The market for Flames merchandise has grown so rapidly that Hornsby has added a wide range of products bearing Liberty’s colors and brand.

“Five years ago, we had only dreamed about it,” Hornsby said. “When you come to my store today, you’ll see floor mats, pads and papers, pens and pencils, glasses, coffee mugs, trash cans. We’re slowly moving through a full line of branded Liberty products.”

Walmart started carrying Russell Athletic wear last year and the products bearing Liberty’s name are now of the same quality as those sold to promote larger universities such as Virginia, Virginia Tech, and North Carolina, which the Wards Road Walmart doesn’t even carry.

“If you buy a Liberty hat and put it right next to a Virginia Tech hat, one’s red, one’s maroon, but they’re the same exact product except the logo on it,” Hornsby said.

In the past five years, a Liberty store has been set up within the Wards Road Walmart, and Liberty products have been made available to stores in Bedford, Madison Heights, and the other Lynchburg location on Old Forest Road.

“We’ve been able to expand the brand to the point where Liberty merchandise may be available nationwide one day,” Hornsby said, noting that Walmart is the world’s largest retailer. “It’s up to us to keep driving it. We can build this. As Liberty grows, we grow and our customer base grows.”