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MISHAWAKA -- At first glance, the Indiana Hoosier winter cap for sale at the Meijer's store on Grape Road seemed like a fun, inexpensive gift for Katie MacHatton's Bloomington-bred friend.
She gave the early Christmas present to her friend after buying it on Black Friday and then left. Her friend called her minutes later.
The South Bend woman had to ask her friend to repeat the spelling on the cap several times when he called her minutes after she gave him the gift.
I-N-D-I-A-D-A Hoosiers.
"He said, 'Did you know Indiana is misspelled on it?'" MacHatton said. "I asked him to spell it a couple times.
"I didn't believe him so I turned around and went back. I looked for myself and there it was."
MacHatton gave the hat a cursory glance before purchasing it and missed the error that appeared on several hats stocked at the localMeijer's store.
She said its packaging partially covered the hat when she bought it.
"I figured it was okay," MacHatton said.
The hats hung mixed in with Indiana sports gear at Meijer's, MacHatton said.
The men's basketball team is ranked No. 1 in many polls so far in its undefeated season.
By Saturday, the erroneous hats were pulled from the store's racks.
A store manager referred questions about the mistake to the company's corporate office. A media relations official did not return phone messages Monday, but an employee said the hats were pulled from the floor.
An employee at the store said the misspelled Hoosier caps became somewhat of a novelty.
As word of the mistake spread, one woman came to the store asking to purchase the caps.
MacHatton took the cap from her friend with the intention of returning it.
She still has the cap, though, and is having second thoughts about the weird misspelling.
"It's kind of a funny inside joke with everyone I know now," MacHatton said.
She even posted a picture on her Facebook page.
"We actually laughed about it," she said of when her friend showed her the mistake.
Staff writer Madeline Buckley:
mbuckley@sbtinfo.com
574-235-6337