As the Super Bowl nears, some local Pittsburgh Steelers fans say they are having a difficult time finding merchandise bearing their football team's name and emblem.

"I feel like the stores downtown didn't have much," Robyn Pearlstein (senior-advertising) said.

Pearlstein said she was looking for a Troy Polamalu jersey but could find only one at Dick's Sporting Goods in Pittsburgh.

However, Glenn Barker, manager of Rapid Transit Sports, 115 S. Allen St., said the store has not yet sold out of Polamalu and Jerome Bettis jerseys -- some of their most popular items.

But Terrible Towels have received the most attention from fans, Barker said.

Rapid Transit Sports has received 12 straight phone calls inquiring about the sold-out towels, he added. Barker said he called several other retailers in the area to see if they had the towels, but they were sold out as well.

"Before the last game, people were asking about [Steelers merchandise]," said Brooke Russell, manager of Old State Clothing Co., 310 E. College Ave.

Russell said customers are excited to hear when new merchandise is in, and there is a lot of demand for it.

People's Nation, 126 E. College Ave., has a different approach to the new demand for Steelers merchandise: letting customers design their own shirts.

"Already today there have been tons," Faith Saluga (junior-psychology), a People's Nation associate, said yesterday.

Saluga said the most popular design in the past week has been a T-shirt that says, "Everyone loves a Pittsburgh girl" emblazoned on the front.

Because customers are not limited to a certain style, People's Nation has been a popular alternative to the traditional football jersey, Saluga said.

Yesterday, Frank Ravella (senior-landscape contracting) and visiting Pittsburgh resident Jen O'Donnell were out shopping for a Steelers T-shirt. They said they had gone into only People's Nation but were unsuccessful because the design they wanted was sold out.

The Student Book Store, 330 E. College Ave., has just one wall of championship T-shirts available with the Steelers logo on them.

"We have a lot of people that want Terrible Towels," said Vicki Kajder, a cashier at the Student Book Store.

They just received the championship gear four days ago and are not expecting to get any more in before Sunday, Kajder said.

Barker also said Rapid Transit Sports has already put an order in for post-Super Bowl hype in anticipation of a Steelers win.