Entrepreneurs Rework and Reopen 7,000 Sq Ft Former Steve and Barry’s

Dan Switzer and his business partners Dave Smaby and Mark Dunbar, have taken the former Steve and Barry’s in East Lansing and turned it into a much more posh, user-friendly campus clothing store.

At the beginning of the year, they opened what is now Campus Street Sportswear in downtown East Lansing. All three of the men worked for Steve and Barry’s, which started selling campus gear on and near college campuses and then expanded its locations to area malls.

“When we found out that the company was liquidating and that they were going to end operations, we got together and thought that the college portion of this business was very successful,” Switzer says. “We decided to jump back in and reinvent that end of the business.”

The trio has now successfully opened an East Lansing location and a Madison, Wisc. location. Before opening the East Lasing store, they renovated the entire store, giving it a much cleaner, more upscale appearance.

“The store is much more shopper friendly,” he says. “We’re bringing in different product lines with better quality.”

Switzer says with the closing of Steve and Barry’s, the growth potential in the college clothing business is unlimited.

“We’re definitely planning on growing,” he says. “There’s one small company that got started in Buffalo, N.Y. Besides that, I don’t anyone else has gotten into the college market and I think there’s tremendous market potential there especially if we do it right.”

Campus Street Sportswear is located at 515 E. Grand RiverAve. near the Peanut Barrel.

Source: Amy Shlusler, City of East Lansing

Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.

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