What is the Pants Store that’s coming up in a lot of Bama Rush videos?
Bama Rush once again took over TikTok in August, and some followers are digging deeper into the Pants Store many sorority rushers have referenced.
If you’re not familiar with Bama Rush, the term refers to the sorority rush at the University of Alabama, which went viral on TikTok in 2021. The school’s sorority rush — part of the larger Panhellenic Conference of Sororities — starts in early August and ends on bid day, Aug. 14, when prospective new “sisters” are granted invitations to join a sorority.
Bama Rush Tok was equally as popular in 2022 and was the subject of a documentary on Max this year. Part of its appeal for TikTokers is the rushers’ outfits of the day (OOTD), which often include pieces from the Pants Store, a local shop near the school.
But some TikTokers are questioning how the family-owned business got mixed up with sorority life in the first place.
What is the Pants Store?
According to the Pants Store’s website, the store is a third-generation family-owned business in Alabama. Taylor Gee opened the first store in 1950 in downtown Leeds, Ala. Gee started as a traveling pants salesman to retailers, but when people started shopping at his Leeds warehouse for deals, they nicknamed the building “The Pants Store.”
“They started buying pants from me and they just called it ‘The Pants Store,'” Gee said about the name’s origin, according to the store’s site.
Today, the Pants Store has evolved from selling exclusively pants to offering other clothing, shoes and accessories “for the whole family.” There are six different locations around Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Auburn and Huntsville.
What hasn’t changed, however, is the Gee family running the show. Gee’s family still manages the company, with his grandsons, Michael and John Gee, overseeing the business.
How did the Pants Store get involved in Bama Rush?
Earlier this month, Michael told Inc. that the Pants Store becoming part of the Bama Rush craze happened completely organically and that he only learned about it through his 14-year-old granddaughter.
Michael told the outlet that sales soared by 600% in one year, with shoppers in other college towns scooping up “outfit of the day” (OOTD) finds. “It went wild,” he added.
But while the business may not have anticipated becoming part of the Bama Rush TikTok craze, the company has now fully leaned into its part in the movement by posting its own TikToks and joining in on the Bama Rush trend.
The @pantsstore TikTok channel now features an almost exclusively college vibe, with bright, preppy colors and outfits, plenty of young people modeling their clothing, suggestions for things like “game day” outfits and, of course, plenty of Bama Rush videos.
Michael told Inc. that he is happy to let his younger employees take the reins of handling social media, and despite the brand’s success, he and his brother have no plans to expand their business nationally.
“We want to stay true to who we are,” Michael said. “When you get too big, sometimes I think you lose sight of who you are trying to be.”
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