SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – When Bert Aufsesser was the alumni club president for Syracuse University in Los Angeles, he would occasionally travel back to Syracuse a few times a year. Aufsesser wanted to wear Syracuse apparel when he went back to campus that was unique and that no one else was wearing. He started to collect old vintage pieces, and he even had his mom sewing items for him.
When he was able to save enough money to move out to Syracuse he opened a store, Scholars and Champs. Scholars and Champs is a retail store based in Syracuse. It’s a combination of new, vintage and custom items for people of all ages. As of recently, due to COVID-19, the stores in-person sales decreased.
“You know it was definitely tough missing graduation, because my biggest target segment is college kids,” Aufsesser said. “Luckily we had a website live already and just had to become more promotional, which is kind of standard in retail these days.”
Although many people were stuck at home during the pandemic, there was an increase in online sales.
“I went from maybe doing you know, $1,000 a month to doing $5,000 or $6,000 a month online,” Aufsesser said. “A lot of people were home and had nothing better to do and a lot of people go unemployment and stimulus checks, and they had money to burn a hole in their pocket.”
The store is now open. To make sure all the clothing is clean and safe for customers, they’re taking precautions.
“We’re just steaming everything, to disinfect it, and probably sterilizing the clothes that way is the biggest thing that I’ve been doing.” Aufsesser said. “Because I have new stuff, but I also have tons of vintage stuff and when we take in vintage stuff we’re washing everything and making sure it’s good to go.”
The store is doing lots of promotions to get people back in the store, including up to half off certain items of clothing.
