Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Norris Hall on Virginia Tech's campus.

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The numbers on the store's telephone dial pad still are light pink from maroon dye.

That's from hand-tying orange and maroon ribbons and bows at the Captain Party store on Franklin Road and taking calls as orders keep coming in, general manager P.J. Nagel said.

On Tuesday, the store also had a back order of at least 50 commemorative decals, he said. Each one states the words "Never Forget," stretched horizontally with an enlarged V and T. Nagel is remembering the fallen by donating some of the sales proceeds to Virginia Tech.

Nagel's difficulties in keeping up with the demand for decals began last week.

"As soon as I would get one ahead of what I needed, someone would show up and want five more," Nagel said. "I never could catch up."

In addition to regular Virginia Tech-themed shirts and hats, merchandise that specifically commemorates the fatal shootings last week of students and faculty at the university is moving fast off store shelves locally.

A much-needed order of orange vinyl material arrived by UPS on Tuesday at Captain Party, and Nagel set to work, carefully cutting the sticky vinyl pieces with a hand cutter and fitting the maroon wording over the orange outline.

He referred to a clipboard list of back orders for the "Never Forget" decals, which are $15 each for the largest size. The smallest cost $5.

Captain Party is donating a portion of its decal sales to Virginia Tech through a local charity, the Foundation of the Roanoke Valley. The store already is selling them at "pennies above cost," Nagel said. Typically, the decals would be priced at $27, he said.

Captain Party also is collecting donations by giving away orange and maroon ribbons as pins and bows for mailboxes and antennas. Last week, the store received numerous requests for bulk amounts of ribbons, including an order of 350 from a local company for employees to wear Friday, which was Orange and Maroon Effect Day.

"As long as there still is demand, we will continue to make them [the ribbons] and collect donations," Nagel said, though at the end of the week, the store plans to turn in its donations of at least $2,000 so far.

Virginia Tech officials have discouraged customers from buying unauthorized commemorative merchandise. A statement on the university's Web site says: "We request that you, please, do not purchase any unauthorized, illegal memorial products that contain the Virginia Tech trademarks. Virginia Tech does plan officially licensed memorial apparel and products in the very near future."

It is unclear whether retailers that already have a license to sell Virginia Tech items are permitted to carry memorial merchandise.

Creations, a store on Market Square in downtown Roanoke, has turned much of its Virginia Tech selection of gold-tone metal key chains, pins and pictures into commemorative items.

The retailer, which has a license to use the Virginia Tech logo, has been selling pins with an image of a black ribbon, the date of the shootings and a simple phrase "Forever in our Hearts."

Creations also has pictures of Burruss Hall, with the words "They will live in our hearts. They will be in our minds. They will live in our memory forever" written on the photo. The shop's owner, Francine Barish-Stern, initially sold the photos of Burruss Hall as graduation gifts.

The biggest challenge, she said, is to keep T-shirts bearing the slogan "Roanokie Hokie" on store racks. The T-shirts, most for $12.95 each, come in various colors, though orange is most popular, she said.

Half of the proceeds of the sales of all commemorative items will be given to the Virginia Tech Memorial Fund.

"I don't want to profit in this situation," Barish-Stern said.

But the rush on commemorative Virginia Tech items might not be evident at some retailers.

B&C Sports Collectibles at Valley View Mall began carrying stickers with a large ribbon image and the words "In memory of" written across them. They cost $2.99 each.

Steve Shea, assistant manager, said the stickers likely have not sold as swiftly, because they did not arrive at the store until mid-Friday. As of Tuesday afternoon, the store still had several hundred left.

"You've got to figure that people are ready to move on," Shea said.