By Brittany Jackson
Carrboro Commons Staff Writer
The owners of downtown Carrboro’s The Merch don’t just stick to screenprinting and design. But what they do stick to influences their business, from their artistic backgrounds to playing in bands to skateboarding.

Patrick Cudahy, left, and Chip Hoppin, co-owners of The Merch in downtown Carrboro, stand in front of the warehouse- designed store with the simple but new sign. The Merch screenprinting and design moved from its previous location of Graham Street in Chapel Hill to Lloyd Street in Carrboro.
Staff photo by Brittany Jackson

“Since I was about 12 I’ve been obsessed with music,” said Patrick Cudahy, one of the two Merch owners. “My mom was way into art and I think I got that from her. Design-wise I’ve always been drawn to record covers and skateboard decks.”

Cudahy and his business partner, Chip Hoppin, started The Merch, a screenprinting and design shop, located on Lloyd Street in downtown Carrboro, in 2001 when they decided to leave a large-scale screenprinting company and go into business for themselves.

“The reason Pat and I did this was because we were going to go crazy if we did another cookie cutter design,” Hoppin said. “We knew enough people and had enough experience – now over 20 years combined – to start something of our own.”

The two owners, who just recently moved the store to Carrboro in May, branched out to create and sell their own designs but also to “serve the local businesses and independent musicians within the community,” according to the welcome statement on their Web site.

“We started going after bands first because they just don’t have that much money, and we understand from our own musical backgrounds that bands need merch,” Hoppin said. The term “merch” that he and Cudahy throw around indicates the term commonly used by bands to refer to the merchandise sold at shows.

The Merch has taken on jobs from bands around the area – Two Dollar Pistols, Roman Candle and Black Taj – as well as those on a bigger scale, such as Andrew Bird and Arcade Fire. They also are involved in side gigs called Fanatic Masks and Mini Cassette Tees.

Hoppin and Cudahy welcome everyone through the doors of their warehouse-type shop, which houses their offices, two printing presses, a darkroom, a ping-pong table and an individual shop set up to sell just their designed T-shirts.

“Obviously, when we first started we weren’t as busy as we are now, so we had tons of time to work on our own designs, to do our own shirts” Cudahy said. “We would still like to do some printing, but also have a really stocked shop of just our designs. We want it to be what the shop is now, but a lot bigger.”

Patrick Cudahy, co-owner of downtown Carrboro’s The Merch, manually prints a design on a stack of posters. Cudahy and his co-owner, Chip Hoppin, design and screenprint anything from T-shirts to mugs to golf balls, and in the near-future, Lucha Libre (Mexican wrestling) masks.
Staff photo by Brittany Jackson

But for now, the T-shirts are sold in only two other places around the area – Bulls Head Bookshop on the UNC-Chapel Hill campus and Nested boutique in downtown Carrboro. Erica Eisdorfer, Bulls Head manager of 20 years, said she begged Cudahy to sell some of their shirts in the bookshop.

“The designs are so edgy and creative. I think that’s why people go for it,” Eisdorfer said. “I think Carrboro’s edgy and smart, and that’s how they reflect the town. When you’re a buyer for a store, you try to know your clientele, and this seemed like exactly the kind of thing the people who shop at our store would like.”

Cudahy said their goal is subtlety when it comes to advertising, selling the product in just two stores besides their own and even putting up the shop’s small sign.

“We’re both into more subtle things. I like the idea that it’s like, what is that little sign?” Cudahy said. “It just has this generic feel – no explanation behind it. I like the fact that we’re not everywhere, the shirts aren’t everywhere. You kind of have to search it out.”

Word-of-mouth and flyers around town and beyond are the primary ways customers and clients search out The Merch. Cudahy said having their shirts in local stores is better than having them mass-marketed.

“I’ve lived in Carrboro for about 10 years, and I’m just into Carrboro,” Cudahy said. “Lloyd Street is good – it seems like there’s a lot of foot traffic, curious people looking in. It’s a nice quiet street, and Weaver Street is right out our back door. It’s good for what we need, and we’re glad to be here.”

Those who wear and sell the shirts in and around Carrboro are glad they are here, too.

“I love these shirts because they’re local and made by a small, local place,” Eisdorfer said. “You can buy one of these things and not feel like you’re going to see 10,000 of them.”

As for what the future holds for these young entrepreneurs – Hoppin is 33 and Cudahy is 36 – they want to remain in the design business, serving local bands with their talent while being their own bosses.

“It looks like a lot of fun but it’s also a lot of clean-up and a lot of wear and tear on the body,” said Hoppin. “Ideally, though, I see us being here until we retire. I don’t see myself wanting to do anything else.”