RIP Bud VanDeWege - Moe Sports Shop Owner
Sad news.
Condolences to his friends and family.
http://www.annarbor.com/news/former-moe-sports-shop-owner-bud-vandewege-dies-at-age-83/
RIP
Thanks for all the great Michigan gear I've bought over the years that I couldn't find anywhere else for a reasonable price.
A Dutchman! Who knew? RIP.
I actually used to pass time in the store between classes now and again, and even had the opportunity to chat with him a few times as a result years ago when I was an undergraduate. Great conversationalist, and he seemed like a truly nice man. Indisputably, he was a presence around Ann Arbor and the University Of Michigan. Rest in peace.
It's really strange to find out that a family friend died on MGOBLOG. He was a really good guy and had the best michigan store by far. May he rest in peace
Bud was one of the kindest persons I ever met. He was a big man in the best sense of the word, one of incredibly generous spirit. He was a great story teller. A great listener. I loved him and I will miss him.
Craig Ross
That is what I have always associated with Moe's. When I would visit for games over the years, I might wander into a new location to check out the gear, but Moe's always had the highest quality product. You have to admire someone who delivers a quality product and succeeds at it for so many years when cheaper competition keeps popping up.
Moe's was always my favorite place to buy Michigan gear and Bud was a big reason why. Once they were sold out of some sweatshirts I wanted to buy for my family and he offered to ship them out of state to me for free. He already had a loyal customer, but that basically won me over for life. Great guy who will be missed by all of us who love Moe's.
Bud was a great guy. He went to high school with my mother in Holland, MI, and played on the Holland High School state championship basketball team, I believe in 1947. We usually stopped at Moe's Sport Shop with my mother during the AA Art Fairs so she could visit with Bud.
the Moe's on State St. I always thought it fantastic, that they'd have two stores, about eight blocks from each other.
I'm guessing that the State Street Moe's was intended to pick up game-day foot traffic.
There was a time in the State Street store (I'm going to need some backup on this one, lest folks think I am crazy) when they made little cards that gave names to all of the t-shirts and sweatshirts that were high up on the tall shelves, way out of reach or even pointing. So instead of saying, "That blue Michigan t-shirt... no, the dark blue one... no, the one next to that one... the long-sleeve one...", you could just say, "Jake," or "Squiggy," or "Roscoe," or whatever names they happened to think of and post on the little signs.