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Dave and Sandra Jacobs said their love story was written on Marshall Street.

The Jacobs’ met in December 1984 at Shirt World, an independently-owned Syracuse University merchandise store. At the time, Dave was working and Sandra was a customer.

Dave said that when they first met, he asked Sandra for her phone number, but she declined and offered to take his instead. He didn’t know going to work that day would change his life forever.

“She came in and we hit it off, ” Dave said. “(She) lived in (Los Angeles), so I visited her two weeks later. Three months later, she came back and the rest is history.”

The Jacobs’ have sold SU merchandise to the community on Marshall Street for 48 years. On Friday, Oct. 18, Shirt World announced its impending shutdown. The store’s closure comes as locally-owned storefronts on Marshall Street are increasingly being replaced by national brands.

Dave said his parents opened Shirt World in Syracuse in 1976, a year after he began studying at SU. He said that, at the time, the shop was one of the only ones in the city selling merchandise for the university.

“(My parents) are just rockstars, and they laid the foundation for what we have now,” Dave said.

Dave worked for his parents at the store for a few years before playing football at Syracuse. After short stints in the NFL in 1979, 1981 and 1987, he returned to Shirt World.

Eventually, Dave and Sandra took over the business from his parents and have managed it ever since.

Cassandra Roshu | Digital Managing Editor

Dave unpacks boxes as patrons behind him browse Shirt World merchandise. The store is offering several sales to its patrons in its last week of operation.

Teddy Fernandez, an SU freshman and a Shirt World patron, said he appreciates how the store inspires the community on Marshall Street.

“He’s had the shop for so long. Even though I’ve only known him for a month and a half, he’s been really great and he’s supporting the local community,” Fernandez said. “It’s unfortunate that it’s closing. It’s been open for so long, and everybody knows the store. Everybody likes it.”

Community is what kept Dave and Sandra working for so long, Dave said. He also said students are the backbone of what he does.

“The students are why we’re here, why we get up every day,” Dave said. “If you have a great product and great customer service, it’s not about the money … it’ll all come together as one family.”

Cassandra Roshu | Digital Managing Editor

A customer shakes hands with Dave as he makes a purchase at the counter. He said he credits his student patrons for his long career on Marshall Street.

Poe Porter, who has lived in Syracuse for his whole life and is a sophomore at SU, said Shirt World has a special place in the heart of many across the city. Porter said it would be “weird” to see Marshall Street without the store.

The Jacobs plan to move from the retail business to being landlords. Wendy Hennessey, Sandra’s sister and an employee at Shirt World, said the decision to move on was a big one.

“We’ve been here through everything, through final fours, through football highs and lows. We’re a part of Marshall Street. To make that decision, to say it’s enough,” Hennessey said. “I’ll go have a Piña Colada somewhere.”

Published on October 24, 2024 at 2:02 am