
{"id":3582,"date":"2008-10-09T07:31:53","date_gmt":"2008-10-09T15:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/?p=3582"},"modified":"2008-10-09T07:38:34","modified_gmt":"2008-10-09T15:38:34","slug":"the-merch-arrives-in-downtown-carrboro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/2008\/10\/09\/the-merch-arrives-in-downtown-carrboro\/","title":{"rendered":"The Merch arrives in downtown Carrboro"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href='http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/merch100908.jpg'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.carrborocitizen.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/10\/merch100908-192x300.jpg\" alt=\"Photo by Brittany Jackson\" title=\"merch100908\" width=\"145\" height=\"210\" align=\"left\" size-medium wp-image-3587\" \/><\/a><strong>Brittany Jackson<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>Courtesy of the Carrboro Commons<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The owners of downtown Carrboro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s The Merch don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just stick to screen-printing and design. But what they do stick to influences their business, from their artistic backgrounds to playing in bands to skateboarding.<br \/>\n<!--more--><br \/>\n\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Since I was about 12, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been obsessed with music,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Patrick Cudahy, one of the two Merch owners. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153My mom was way into art and I think I got that from her. Design-wise I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve always been drawn to record covers and skateboard decks.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Cudahy and his business partner, Chip Hoppin, started The Merch, a screen-printing and design shop located on Lloyd Street in downtown Carrboro, in 2001 when they decided to leave a large-scale screen-printing company and go into business for themselves.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The reason Pat and I did this was because we were going to go crazy if we did another cookie-cutter design,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hoppin said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We knew enough people and had enough experience \u00e2\u20ac\u201c now over 20 years combined \u00e2\u20ac\u201c to start something of our own.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>The two owners, who moved the store to Carrboro from Chapel Hill in May, branched out to create and sell their own designs but also to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153serve the local businesses and independent musicians within the community,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d according to the welcome statement on their website.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We started going after bands first because they just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have that much money, and we understand from our own musical backgrounds that bands need merch,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Hoppin said. The term \u00e2\u20ac\u0153merch\u00e2\u20ac\u009d that he and Cudahy throw around is a term commonly used by bands to refer to the merchandise sold at shows.<\/p>\n<p>The Merch has taken on jobs from bands around the area \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Two Dollar Pistols, Roman Candle and Black Taj \u00e2\u20ac\u201c as well as those from elsewhere, such as Andrew Bird and Arcade Fire. They also are involved in two side gigs, Fanatic Masks and Mini Cassette Tees.<\/p>\n<p>Hoppin and Cudahy welcome everyone through the doors of their warehouse-type shop, which houses their offices, two printing presses, a darkroom, a ping-pong table and a shop set up to sell their own designed t-shirts.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Obviously, when we first started we weren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t as busy as we are now, so we had tons of time to work on our own designs, to do our own shirts\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cudahy said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153We would still like to do some printing, but also have a really stocked shop of just our designs. We want it to be what the shop is now, but a lot bigger.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>For now, the t-shirts are sold in only two other places around the area \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Bulls Head Bookshop on the UNC campus and Nested boutique in downtown Carrboro. Erica Eisdorfer, Bulls Head manager of 20 years, said she begged Cudahy to sell some of their shirts in the bookshop.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The designs are so edgy and creative. I think that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why people go for it,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Eisdorfer said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I think Carrboro\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s edgy and smart, and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how they reflect the town. When you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a buyer for a store, you try to know your clientele, and this seemed like exactly the kind of thing the people who shop at our store would like.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Cudahy said their goal is subtlety when it comes to advertising, as manifested in the shop\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s small sign.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re both into more subtle things. I like the idea that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s like, what is that little sign?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cudahy said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153It just has this generic feel \u00e2\u20ac\u201c no explanation behind it. I like the fact that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not everywhere, the shirts aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t everywhere. You kind of have to search it out.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Word-of-mouth and flyers around town and beyond are the primary ways customers and clients search out The Merch. Cudahy said having their shirts in local stores is better than having them mass-marketed.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve lived in Carrboro for about 10 years, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m just into Carrboro,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Cudahy said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lloyd Street is good \u00e2\u20ac\u201c it seems like there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a lot of foot traffic, curious people looking in. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a nice quiet street, and Weaver Street is right out our back door. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s good for what we need, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re glad to be here.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>Those who wear and sell the shirts in and around Carrboro are glad they are here too.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I love these shirts because they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re local and made by a small, local place,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Eisdorfer said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153You can buy one of these things and not feel like you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going to see 10,000 of them.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p>As for what the future holds for these young entrepreneurs \u00e2\u20ac\u201c Hoppin is 33; Cudahy, 36 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c they want to remain in the design business, serving local bands with their talent while being their own bosses.<\/p>\n<p>\u00e2\u20ac\u0153It looks like a lot of fun but it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s also a lot of clean-up and a lot of wear and tear on the body,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d said Hoppin. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ideally, though, I see us being here until we retire. I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t see myself wanting to do anything else.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n<p><em>Brittany Jackson is a UNC student writing for the Carrboro Commons, a bi-weekly online lab newspaper for Jock Lauterer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Community Journalism class at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3582","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-miscellany"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3582","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3582"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3582\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3582"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3582"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ibiblio.org\/carrborocitizen\/main\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3582"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}