Charlotte T-shirt brand to open NoDa storefront
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Queen & Cotton apparel and stickers in Charlotte COLLECTIVE. Photo: Alexandria Sands/Axios
Charlotte-centric clothing brand Queen & Cotton will open a storefront in NoDa later this year.
Why it matters: It's another small, local business success story.
Context: For years Queen & Cotton owners Travis Blain and Tal Benamor have sold their T-shirts and hats at pop-up markets like Front Porch Sundays. They also have shelves and a rack at Charlotte Collective, a shop on West Boulevard that carries various local entrepreneurs' products.
- Now, Blain and Benamor will open a storefront in their own neighborhood, in the still-under-construction Centro NoDa building on 36th Street, before the end of the year.
The intrigue: Queen & Cotton's graphics nod to local sports teams like the Carolina Panthers and Charlotte FC and reference Charlotte's nicknames like "CLT" and "Queen City." Some of their designs are like inside jokes within our city's culture.
- One shirt, for example, shows a skeleton riding a scooter: "Ride & Die," it says.
- Another is a comic sketch with the text, "Oh No! Not another F***! Brewery!" (A complaint regularly commented on the Axios Charlotte Instagram.)
Flashback: Blain, a freelance designer, and Benamor started making T-shirts around COVID. The couple had always talked about pursuing a creative venture together.
- "I used to joke with Travis that I wanted him to draw art that I could sell because he's such a good artist," Benamor said.
From day one, Blain envisioned opening a brick-and-mortar store, but Benamor needed some more convincing. Then they learned about the micro-retail spaces opening at Centro NoDa.
- The incoming micro-unit apartment complex has small ground-floor retail spaces that are more affordable to new entrepreneurs, removing the barriers to operating in a high-trafficked strip.
- As the couple watched Centro NoDa break ground and undergo construction, they had time to consider the prospect of opening a storefront.
What to expect: In the roughly 400-square-foot space, they'll sell Queen & Cotton T-shirts, hats and prints, and deck out the walls with murals.
- The couple, who lived in Los Angeles for about six years, say they plan to branch out from Charlotte themes and tap more into their West Coast influences in this next chapter.
