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A Message From The allCanes Family
Born Into Tradition
Welcome to allCanes.com, the official online store for allCanes, a family-owned business since 1974. When my wife Gigi and I purchased the business almost four decades ago, it was simply All Sports; a neighborhood sporting goods store serving the needs of UM students, faculty and local residents.
In 1984, soon after the University of Miami won its first football championship, I realized two things. First, the era of the general sporting goods store was coming to a close and second, with the Hurricanes bursting onto the national scene, there wasn’t enough licensed, logoed UM merchandise and apparel available for a growing fan base.
Always An Original
We were officially licensed by UM in the mid-1980s, which brought us into the foray of creating exclusive original designs – something unprecedented at the time. In that long-gone era, collegiate licensing was like the Wild West and with Miami the true renegade program of that time, as well as some big-name rivals, countless legendary shirts were born.
In-state rival Florida State provided some fodder as well, thanks to a lack of accuracy from their field goal kickers. The “Wide Right” shirts started in the early 90s and were followed by “This Is A Goal Post, This Is A Nole Post” after a second straight showdown ended with a kick sailing wide. A decade later, we had “Wide Right III” followed by “Wide Left”. Thanks you for so much material, Seminole Nation.
Truly A Canes Thing
Still, no allCanes Original got more mileage or stood the test of time than our “It’s A Canes Thing … You Wouldn’t Understand” tee. Created in the early 1990s, we still stock the shirt today as it truly was the first to embody this program’s “us against the world” mentality.
“Canes Thing” struck a good nerve and through that, original designs like “U Family”, “The U Invented Swagger”, “Respect It!” and our “305” line hit home; shirts specifically created for this proud, brash and unique fan base.
U Family Pride
It’s been an incredible journey from an old fashioned sporting goods store to the undisputed, number one Canes shop nationwide and at the core of that, our undying love and dedication to the University of Miami. For allCanes, “U Family” is more than a tagline or slogan.
I was introduced to the Canes a lifetime ago – when games were played Friday nights at the Orange Bowl and the premise of a national championship was nothing more than a pipe dream. I passed that tradition on to my sons, taking them to games in the 80s and 90s and telling them to soak up the good times, as UM’s then-dominance was unprecedented; a rarity and wasn’t going to last forever. Both boys grew up with an undying love for the Canes and my oldest, Chris, covers UM athletics at allCanesBlog.com, handles our social media efforts as well as growing the brand that is allCanes.com.
The Heart of allCanes
As much as the Bello family bleeds orange and green, the top spot goes to our longtime general manager Harry Rothwell and his clan. Harry has been the backbone for allCanes for the past two decades, in store, on the road or involved with UM and the Hurricane Club, he’s worked tirelessly to earn the deserved title of Mr. allCanes.
Harry’s son Justin has also been a part of the allCanes family for years, working in store, while the youngest Rothwell, Daniel, earned a scholarship to UM and began classes in fall 2012. Harry and his wife Julie couldn’t be more proud.
…And The Soul
Through good times and bad, we’ve lived it all and supported UM the entire way. We experienced the ultimate highs, with five football championships and four in baseball, while suffering every on-the-field heartache – as well as our hearts breaking every time we lost another member of The U Family prematurely. Jerome Brown. Shane Curry. Marlin Barnes. Chris Campbell. Al Blades. Brad Timpf. Bryan Pata. Luke DeBold. Sean Taylor. Too many, too soon.
Beyond The Walls
At allCanes, we’re more than just a brick and mortar store or online shopping destination. We want to create a legacy that makes Hurricane Nation proud. Last fall thousands of you participated in the signing of our #IStandForTheU banner, which we delivered to UM players and coaches, letting them know this fan base is completely behind them.
What some of you don’t know is that the banner idea was something we borrowed from ourselves almost two decades ago. During the ‘Season Of The Storm’, fans and customers turned out in droves weeks after Hurricane Andrew to sign a support banner that was hand-delivered to then-head coach Dennis Erickson and the 1992 squad, which eventually fell short in the title game to Alabama, but gave this fan base a reason to root like hell during a very dark time for our hometown.
Community Pride Runs Deep
There’s also the annual Shopping Spree for Kids every December, where $95 is given to each member of the local charities so local youths can holiday shop. We close down the store after hours, invite in local personalities, UM coaches and friends of allCanes, we cater the event and we let some Junior Canes have a shopping experience all to themselves. For those who have donated or participated in all of our wonderful charity events over the years, we thank you for your ongoing support of allCanes and the University of Miami.