Upstairs shopping selection was added to the Mid High Market store. Credit: Courtesy of Sharon Colbert
Mid High Market, located at 1758 N. High St. across from the Ohio Union, added upstairs shopping to expand its collection of Ohio State apparel for students in August.
What started as a supermarket-themed clothing store will now have an additional floor upstairs dedicated to Ohio State apparel, Dalton Willis, part-time designer and head of photography, video and media at Upper middle market, said. Willis said the expansion includes more menswear, Ohio State apparel and vintage apparel. Customers can expect a rotation of old items, new designs and colors.
“Rotating what we already have and then also new designs as some get played and tired,” Willis said. “We’re always trying to do new things even if it’s just a new color.”
Willis said Mid High Market’s first-floor interior and exterior design was inspired by founder Austin Pence’s first job working in a market. The second floor and its new items will have a different theme.
“We tried to bring the theme here, and he’s always had a passion and interest in these supermarket theme designs,” Willis said. “Oranges in the store, cans of soup, boxes of cereal, things you see in a market.”
Willis said the goal of the new floor is to offer more Ohio State men’s apparel options. There will be new designs alongside the old items, he said.
“Right now there’s a lot of girls’ stuff besides, like, the vintage racks, but with the vintage stuff we’re trying to restock every week,” Willis said.
Willis said student interest in Ohio State apparel influenced the expansion. He said the store chose to expand beyond the occasional open-air windows to a full-time supply upstairs.
“With Ohio State stuff always going well, usually we’re out with it too, but we dedicated the whole section to Buckeye stuff,” Willis said.
The upstairs was previously used as a media space for Mid High Market, where photo shoots for new clothing were done and merchandise was stored, Willis said.
Shaun Barket, a fourth-year fashion and retail major and a store employee, said trendy and creative clothing is popular among Ohio State students during football season.
“We sell a lot of party wear stuff,” Barket said.
A popular unisex hoodie with the slogan, “It Feels Damn Good to Be a Buckeye,” is popular among students, and the extra purchases upstairs have helped them sell more, Barket said.
“Every time we restock they sold out the same week, so when we opened up the second floor, it really enabled us to have them in stock all the time,” Barket said.
