North Carolina college sports fans can now purchase their favorite team T-shirts and sweatshirts in Kinston.
Buy Local Collegiate Sportswear officially opened on Black Friday, Nov. 29.
Owned and operated by Ben and Katherine Harper, the shop is a spring-off retail store for Harper Arts, a micro-factory in Carrboro that creates designs, screen prints and embroiders a variety of sportswear.
Founded 10 years ago near three of the state’s most prominent universities, the production plant is planned to be moved to Kinston in late spring, Ben Harper said.
“We want to be closer to the coast,” he said, adding the proximity to ECU is ideal as well.
It was Pride of Kinston director Adrian King who gave the Harpers a tour of Kinston and convinced them this is the place to set up shop, Harper said.
“We were really excited about all the new development going on in Kinston,” he said.
Harper said he was impressed with the brewery, downtown restaurants, historic district, private school and prices in Kinston, as well the revitalization.
“We’ve seen what can happen,” he said. “We’ve seen Durham turn around in the downtown.”
One of Harper’s first jobs was in concept development and sales for a company in Athens, Ga. Once he had the knowledge and skills, he opened up Harper Arts in 2003.
The 800-square-foot Kinston location is the Harper’s first retail shop outside the Chapel Hill-Carrboro factory and store.
The plant, which produces beach wear in the summer, is officially licensed to produce collegiate apparel for ECU, UNC-Chapel Hill, N.C. State, Duke and UNC-Wilmington.
The company will also do custom screen printing and plans to launch a new brand, Red Collar, in the spring.
This camouflage line will include sun protection shirts for hunters, farmers and fishermen, Harper said. North Carolina artists will be painting the wildlife, including the North Carolina catfish, on the shirts.
The company’s products are made in North Carolina or the United States, complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act.
The Harper’s have a daughter, Killen, 8, and son, Charles, 5. The family plans to move to Kinston and extend the hours of the store.
Buy Local Collegiate Sportswear, 310 E. New Bern Road across from King’s Restaurant, will be open Saturday and Dec. 20-24 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The store will be closed Jan. 1 for remodeling and will re-open March 1 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
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A cheaper-priced service can be just as good as a more expensive one, says Mike Graff, who opened $2.99 A Cleaner on Sept. 30.
“There is a preconceived notion that if you pay less, you get less,” he said. “That’s not true. We have to put out the quality because there’s this stigma.”
Kinston is the sixth location of $2.99 A Cleaner to open. The first dry cleaning plant opened in 2003 in Washington. By 2011, there were drop stores in Morehead City, New Bern and Washington and a processing plant in New Bern.
“There’s a population here that will lean toward the discount market,” Graff said of Kinston.
The Kinston store is a full-service drop-off center with generally a one-day turnaround.
“There isn’t anything we don’t do,” Graff said.
Clothes are picked up from Kinston about 3 p.m. and brought to the New Bern plant for cleaning. The cleaned clothes come back about the same time the next business day.
Alterations take longer. Specialty items like area rugs and wedding gowns take about a week, while leather and suede may take two weeks.
“Almost everything is $2.99,” Graff said.
There is a nominal charge for starched pants, dresses and heavy-wear coats, he said.
Graff resides with his wife, Michelle Beamon Graff, a special education teacher from Snow Hill, and daughter in New Bern.
$2.99 A Cleaner, 1204 W. Vernon Ave., is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. For information, call 252-522-9901.
Margaret Fisher can be reached at 252-559-1082 or Margaret.Fisher@Kinston.com. Follow her on Twitter @MargaretFishr.