By John Ostapowicz and Matthew Sotlar / The Jambar
Youngstown Clothing Co. has its headquarters in the Southern Park Mall in Boardman. Up until recently, it’s only shop was located in Southern Park. Now, the brand has branched out to Niles at Eastwood Mall.
Founder and owner of Youngstown Clothing Co., Matt McClure, began the company in 2015. Since then, it has serviced over 50,000 customers and has raised well over $200,000 in charitable donations.
McClure said he started Youngstown Clothing Co. out of a sense for his local pride.
“It kind of came out of necessity,” McClure said. “It started with having a lot of pride and being from this area … I feel that local pride is a big thing everywhere, but here, I feel that it’s even more so. We’re very proud of where we come from, the way that we’re brought up.”
He added that he was inspired by other printing companies and felt that Youngstown was in need of its own clothing company.
“It kind of came out of us wanting to wear this stuff [and] represent this stuff. I had seen other places doing similar things and just felt like Youngstown definitely needed to be represented as well,” McClure said.
McClure said the opening of the Eastwood store had gone well, and that it had attracted a new crowd of customers.
“Things have been going really good,” McLure said. “I got to meet a lot of new people already. A lot of people have come in and mentioned that they’re glad they don’t have to drive so far to Boardman anymore, but it’s good to have locations in both places.”
Youngstown Clothing Co. focuses mostly on Mahoning Valley-related products. McClure said he wanted to create a nostalgic feeling with his designs.
“We love the nostalgic. We say we like to think of ourselves as bridging the gap between the glory days and the bright future that we feel is ahead for this area. We love to do past, present and even future general designs,” McClure said.
In addition to clothing, McClure said the company sponsors a Yonation Jar, which receives donations and sponsorships from local businesses.
“A big thing for us is our Yonation Jar. That’s when we work with local, stateful family businesses that we grew up admiring and loving so much, and we feel so honored that a lot of these businesses entrust us to come up with designs for their brands and businesses,” McClure said.
Youngstown Clothing Co. collaborates with over 15 local businesses for its Yonation Jar, including White House Fruit Farms, Handel’s Homemade Ice Cream and DiRusso’s Sausage.
Along with serving the community, McClure said Youngstown Clothing Co. has worked closely with Youngstown State University for many years.
“YSU has been so great with our partnership,” McClure said. “I feel like we’ve offered officially licensed YSU gear since probably right around 2019.”
Youngstown Clothing Co. in the Southern Park Mall is open Monday-Saturday from 11 a.m-8 p.m and on Sundays from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
While the new location at Eastwood Mall is open Monday-Saturday from 10 a.m-9 p.m and on Sundays from 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
