Collegiate Retailer Program Pilot

For more than 25 years, colleges and universities have joined our University Caucus to demonstrate their commitment to ethical sourcing and fair labor standards throughout the supply chains of licensed products. 

To explore meaningful engagement with the retailers sourcing and selling these collegiate licensed products, we’re launching a two-year Collegiate Retailer Program pilot, focused on building knowledge and capacity for human rights due diligence and responsible business conduct within collegiate-focused retailers’ business operations and throughout their supply chains. 

Pilot details 

The two-year pilot will run from July 2026 – June 2028 and will engage retailers who have significant business relationships with colleges and universities, with the following program components: 

• Participation in quarterly training sessions focused on continuous learning and following a cyclical 4-pillar learning curriculum: 
  • Orienting to FLA and human rights due diligence 
  • Building an internal foundation for social compliance 
  • Responsible sourcing and purchasing practices 
  • Consumer education and marketing  
• Labor standards commitments, including adopting a code of conduct aligned with FLA standards; 
• Identification and public disclosure of vendors’ FLA affiliation status (or lack thereof); and 
• Annual affiliation renewal 

Benefits of pilot participation

Retailers engaging with the pilot will benefit by: 

• Building their knowledge and capacity to prepare for social compliance and human rights due diligence regulations and expectations from investors, licensors, stakeholders, and consumers; 
• Growing in their ability to understand and meet their university licensors’ expectations for social responsibility in the sourcing, purchasing, and selling of collegiate-branded products; 
• Accessing a pre-competitive space with like-minded peers to share challenges and best practices related to responsible business conduct; 
• Utilizing FLA-approved messaging to promote their commitment to social responsibility with customers and stakeholders. 

As this is a pilot, participants will also have the unique ability to provide feedback and shape the future of FLA’s engagement with retailers and serve as a leader in this space.  

Participating retailers

Retailers committed to the pilot include: 

1. Barnes and Noble College 
2. Cactus Sports (Tempe, AZ, serving Arizona State University) 
3. Follett Higher Education Group 
4. Pitt University Store/The Store on Fifth 
5. The Cornell Store 
6. The University of Texas University Co-Op 

We invite additional retailers to join to round out our initial pilot cohort.  

For more information or to explore interest in participation, please reach out to Danielle Roberts, FLA Collegiate Programs Director at droberts@fairlabor.org.