T-Shirt World moving from Crystal Mall to Tanger Outlets, tripling store size
Ashon Avent does not need theoretical or academic lessons to teach his business students the struggles, frustrations and joy of launching and growing a small business: He is a living example for them.
Over a seven-year span, Avent, 45, of Norwich, who teaches business classes at Eastern Connecticut State University, has endured COVID-19 business disruptions, a major flood, and a dying mall with no working elevator. He still was able to grow his business from micro-entrepreneurial status to a new 4,000-square-foot prominent spot in the Tanger Outlets at Foxwoods Resort Casino.
Last week, Avent received the keys to his spacious new space at Suite 460 at Tanger Outlets. He is working with the Greater Norwich Area Chamber of Commerce on a grand opening celebration sometime in March.
Avent admitted he felt a bit nervous to join with national brands, long-established businesses and the Foxwoods aura.
'It was intimidating at first,' Avent said. 'It's bigger, and scary a little bit. It felt like home over there. We had some regular people, who would pop in the mall, the mall walkers.'
But foot traffic was declining amid store closures and recently a faulty elevator and escalator at the mall. The Crystal Mall filed an eviction lawsuit against Avent and won a judgment in New London Superior Court in January ordering T-Shirt World and two other stores to close for alleged nonpayment of rent.
Tanger Outlets also offered the chance for Avent to triple his business space, from 1,000 square feet to 4,000 square feet — 2,000 for his growing retail offerings and 2,000 for expanded manufacturing space for his wholesale printing and signature brand apparel.
'It's exciting because it's Foxwoods. It is new development. The water park is new. Martha Stewart's restaurant is coming,' Avent said, referring to the Great Wolf Lodge indoor water park scheduled to open in May and The Bedford by Martha Stewart restaurant coming in the fall.
Along with his retail and wholesale operations, Avent plans to offer space for birthday parties, anniversaries and other gatherings, where participants can make their own T-shirts, selecting shirts or hoodies styles, colors and screen-printing designs.
Front display tables will feature a collection of national and local brands and logos, including Carhartt and North Face brands. T-Shirt World's own signature design features the slogan, 'God is Good.' Avent said people like the 'feel-good,' positive message.
Lessons in adversity from real life
Avent launched his custom screen-printing business from his home in 2017, making sports uniforms for youth teams and logos for small businesses. At the urging of then-Norwich Community Development Corp. President Jason Vincent, Avent opened T-Shirt World, a small shop in the lower level of the Foundry 66 shared workspace complex as a micro-entrepreneur in 2019.
Disaster struck in September 2021, when torrential rains filled his shop with 4 feet of water. Boxes of newly arrived T-shirts and polo shirts sat submerged and soaked. Heavy screen printing machinery floated, and computers were ruined.
Avent bounced back and opened in the Crystal Mall in Waterford knowing that the mall was in decline. He partnered with fellow mall store owners to sponsor small business Saturdays and attracted food trucks for mini festivals to boost foot traffic.
Despite the declining foot traffic at the mall and loss of major anchor stores, T-Shirt World continued to grow and needed more space.
Eric Meyer, owner of Ice Imports, which sells gems, knives, novelty figures and jewelry, which recently moved from Crystal Mall to Tanger, urged Avent to follow suit. Meyer said his transition was smooth; the move took less than a month. Meyer also opened a shop at Old Mystic Village and now is working on a new location in Pennsylvania near Doylestown.
Meyer, of Gales Ferry, whose shop at Suite 570 in Tanger is near to the new T-Shirt World, said he advised Avent to pay attention to the foot traffic at Tanger, play the type of music they would like and stock items that will appeal to them.
Like Avent, Meyer started small with a booth at the Jewett City Flea Market for two years before moving to the Crystal Mall in 2005.
'He's a great guy,' Meyer said of Avent. 'I've known him since he came to the (Crystal) mall. I had him make some T-shirts for the store, and for some businesspeople. We're kind of rare. We have a ton in common, and we hit it off. It's great to interact with real people.'
Avent started moving in last week in this week, enlisting his ECSU business interns to set up displays, design the space to exhibit products.
'I want to bring the real world into the classroom,' Avent said.
T-Shirt World has evolved over its brief history
Avent estimated that when he was in downtown Norwich, his business was 90% wholesale orders for sports teams and businesses. He stocked a few designs to sell to customers, but there was very little foot traffic on his corner of Franklin and Bath streets.
At the time of his move to Tanger, he estimated retail and wholesale are split evenly at 50% each. And he noted the buzz in the hallways at Tanger on a weekday afternoon last week, excited at the potential to attract new customers to his store.
He plans to start with four employees, double from the Crystal Mall spot and hopes to grow as he settles in at Tanger.
He received a $10,000 grant in November from the Southeastern Connecticut Enterprise Region to invest in technology for his manufacturing operation and website.
Through all his business activities, Avent has maintained a busy personal life. Along with teaching at ECSU, his alma mater for his undergraduate degree in marketing, Avent is working on his doctorate in business at Southern Connecticut State University.
He lives in Norwich and is active in local business events and serves on the Board of Public Utilities Commissioners. He has five children, ranging in age from 6 to 29 and two grandchildren.
Norwich Mayor Peter Nystrom said he has watched Avent grow his business over the years and was pleased that he remained in Norwich and is active in the community.
'He is dedicated,' Nystrom said. 'He has done well, and he contributes to the community.'
c.bessette@theday.com
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