SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) - When you walk through the doors of Scholars and Champs, bells announce your arrival. Racks are stuffed with colorful Syracuse University vintage gear. Owner Bert Aufsesser greets each customer and offers to help.
The name of the store might not ring a bell but if you say it out loud it might remind you of someone.
“When I was younger, I was watching Rap City, and Snoop Dogg was on there, and he talked about how he went to Long Beach Poly High School, the home of Scholars and Champs,” Aufsesser said.
He didn’t think much of it until about ten years later.
“My mom came home with a sweatshirt and it had the word scholar on it, and made me think of when Snoop Dogg said, the home of Scholars and Champs.”
He wanted to name the store after what he had heard on the television show, but using that name would have challenges.
“I wanted to trademark it, so I could eventually open a website and have a clothing line,” said Aufsesser cracking a smile.
Once the shop started to become a reality Aufsesser hired a lawyer to look into trademark issues with the name. The lawyer discovered that Snoop did have a trademark on “Scholars and Champs” but it is on shoes, and not for a store or clothing brand.
Aufsesser was in the clear. “But now I do, and I have the trademark.”
It’s getting attention, celebrities such as Pete Davidson from Saturday Night Live, and Tyler Cameron from the ABC hit show The Bachelor have bought vintage Syracuse clothing. And Aufsesser doesn’t miss the opportunity to splash them on the Scholar and Champs social media pages.
Scholar and Champs is located at 310 South Salina Street, and open is open six days a week from 11 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
