There's much more to The Shop than you might think if you simply eyeball its simple yet appealing storefront on Broad Ripple's main drag.
At first glance, The Shop is a t-shirt shop perfectly situated to take advantage of Broad Ripple's typically young adult crowd that's always looking for the next laid back, groovy look.
That's pretty true. The Shop IS, in fact, a t-shirt shop. It features the kinds of t-shirts that will appeal to the usual Broad Ripple crowd - college wear, local sports teams (including Ed Carpenter Racing - I love that!), vintage Indiana wear, special collections, and a whole lot more.
The Shop is actually a bit more, though. First off, the Shop has a sister store at Carmel's Clay Terrace. I've always sort of seen Clay Terrace as Carmel's version of Broad Ripple, so The Shop's presence here makes perfect sense.
The Shop also offers custom printing at pretty affordable pricing. It's slightly higher than some of the mass producers, but you have to expect that when supporting local and supporting an owner with a couple locations rather than an actual "chain." You can get an estimate straight from their website - though basic pricing is noted up front.
The Shop also offers "The Print Shop," essentially the ability to do your usual promotional/business type printing on a variety of products including headwear, drinkwear, stickers, etc. It's a pretty cool option - especially for local non-profits and given the extensive causewear offered here I have to believe they work with a lot of non-profits.
While I'd visited The Shop before and really enjoyed the atmosphere and options (including usually terrific sales), I'm writing this review after experiencing The Shop during the COVID-19 pandemic that has significantly impacted businesses nationwide.
I was impressed that right in the middle of the pandemic, they did a fundraiser to support local hospitality workers by offering a printed "Visit Indy" t-shirt for $10 that would raise money to support these workers.
While some have expressed concerns with a delayed arrival of the t-shirts, I've been super impressed with their communication of the delay (I mean, c'mon...even Amazon isn't even close to honoring their 1-2 day delivery right now). Things are really hard for businesses right now and this company went out of their way to support local workers - they've communicated delays openly (by e-mail, social media, and their website) and actually got things shipped out in a time frame that rivals what Amazon is delivering right now. That's pretty darn good to me.
The product is awesome.
The Shop also continues to e-mail their sales options daily and they haven't lost their usual fun personality.
In short, they're making the best of a difficult situation and still providing top notch products, terrific customer service, and fair prices. I've been super impressed and they've definitely won a customer here. read more