Take a walk down Franklin Street any day and you’ll see people. But taking a walk down post-championship is a different story.

“The National Championship win… even every time the Heels progress, there’s an impact on downtown and it grows,” said Meg McGurk, Executive Director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership. “And with the National Championship it’s not just the game last night and today because if you’ve been downtown right now, it’s a beautiful bananas.”

McGurk said winning the championship will of course draw prospective students to UNC, but it also brings tourism downtown.

“The phrase that people love to bemoan is that downtown is just t-shirt shops… it is not,” she said. “We only have four. But they are economic engines for our downtown.”

The t-shirt shops on Franklin all already have National Championship gear, ready to buy. Shops are also capitalizing on the commemorative newspaper issues, with some carrying the News and Observer or Herald Sun. The Daily Tar Heel is making a final print run of its Redemption copy, but only for departments and organizations that make preorders.

Business in Chapel Hill and in North Carolina has been up in the air for nearly a year, as some, including the NCAA chose to leave due to House Bill 2.

But House Bill 142 was passed last week as a compromise between Republican General Assembly members and Governor Roy Cooper. The NCAA then announced it would once again consider North Carolina to host championship events in the future.

McGurk said House Bill 142 in conjunction with the NCAA could also have a positive impact on Chapel Hill businesses, but it’s hard to tell.

“Even this repeal would have gotten us some sports activity back but it is still having an impact on our community,” she said.

All four t-shirt shops on Franklin: Underground Printing, Chapel Hill Sportswear, Johnny T-Shirt and the Shrunken Head Boutique are selling National Championship merchandise. Some still have newspapers.

To make a bulk order of at least 25 Redemption copies of the DTH at $2.00 per copy, click here. The deadline to submit an order is 5:00 P.M.

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