Retired apparel guru helps UNLV launch Rebel Pride Clothing Co.

Steve Guiremand

Wednesday, May 22, 2002 | 10:29 a.m.

Mike Ellis thought he came to Las Vegas to retire from the retail and apparel business.

That was before the 64-year-old Cal graduate met with UNLV athletic director John Robinson back in December. The result was a new line of UNLV merchandise called the "Rebel Pride Clothing Company" that benefits the school's athletic department.

"My wife (Linda), whose judgement I trust on things like this, felt there was a big need for something like this," Robinson said. "She wanted to buy some UNLV stuff for the grandkids and herself and was having a hard time finding it. She alerted me to the need for this."

So Robinson contacted Ellis, who spent more than 40 years in the retail and merchandise business before retiring to Las Vegas, to start a new clothing business for the school.

The immediate result is a Rebel Pride trailer that sits outside the ticket office at the Thomas & Mack Center and contains more than 40 different T-shirts, hats, polo shirts, sweatshirts and even red and silver football beads than students, fans and alumni can purchase.

"I think basically the idea of merchandising had pretty much dried up to nothing," Robinson said. "There was a Rebel Store in the Thomas & Mack Center, but it had closed. People were calling me and wondering what was happening."

"Coach Robinson came here from the Los Angeles area like I did, so he knows what it's like at a school like USC or UCLA or a Nebraska or Wisconsin where you see students walking around campus in their school shirts every day," Ellis said.

"UNLV is the only school I could think of that didn't have its own clothing line based around its athletic teams. UNLV merchandise was always sold as a secondary program through a place like the Thomas & Mack or Barnes and Noble. (Robinson) thought we should have our own.

"He asked me if I knew anybody who might be able to start up a business like that up. Since I have a business background in wholesale and retail, I took on the job."

That was not exactly what Ellis and his wife, Lorelle, had in mind when they moved to Las Vegas.

"We had just retired," Ellis said. "We had just come back from Paris and Europe and having an awfully good time. And we love Las Vegas. But my wife and I are also unbelieveable sports fans. I don't think there's a venue in the United States that we haven't been to."

Ellis started out in December with just three products -- a t-shirt, a hat and a sweatshirt. Now he also has separate UNLV t-shirts for sports such as baseball, basketball, soccer, softball and track and field as well as football. He also produced a special UNLV Alumni shirt for graduation last week and made a women's basketball t-shirt featuring the four seniors from the Lady Rebels' 2002 NCAA Tourney squad.

"We made 72 of those," Ellis said. "They sold out in just 15 minutes. Since this is all pretty new for us, we did it as a test. The point is the fans are liking this. Since we're the licensee, we can do what we want and create our own logos. It's really outdone our expectations. It's not because of me, it's because I think there were a lot of people out there who were hungry for this. There was a need for an affordable product like this."

Keeping the prices within range of a student's budget was one main goal. T-shirts are $10 and sweatshirts start at $17. Polo shirts start at $35. There is also a special women's line.

Robinson said the proceeds from the Rebel Pride clothing will go to UNLV's student services. He hopes to raise $100,000 by next spring.

The Rebel Pride trailer is open from 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. during the week and also Saturday morning. It also will be found at UNLV football games next season as well as some fund-rasing events, such as next month's Robinson-Charlie Spoonhour Golf Tourney at Stallion Mountain. And Ellis also is setting up smaller booths at other Rebel sporting events.

"I think Robinson almost had tears in his eyes when he first saw this trailer," Ellis said. "The whole plan is to eventually turn over operation of this to people at the university to run it. The real reward for someone like me is to look up in the stands and see that everybody is wearing it and liking it."