We were lucky to catch up with Mazen Hasan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mazen, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today We’d love to go back in time and hear the story of how you came up with the name of your brand?

For years I’d hear people around Cleveland say it’s boring here and that they want to move. Every time I’d say this is a great place to be. They would then disagree and I would then list out all that Cleveland has to offer to prove my point. When I decided to start the business, my mission was clear in showing why Cleveland is the place to be, so no better name than Cleveland’s Cool!

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’ve lived in northeast, Ohio my whole life and have always been a huge fan of the city of Cleveland and Cleveland sports. I’ve always believed that the Northeast, Ohio area is the best place to live. Anytime someone would try to talk poorly about Cleveland I’d say something along the lines of “actually, let me give you 10 reasons why Cleveland is cool” and then I would go on to list all of those items. I clearly had a passion for the city, and wanted to bring more awareness, and then one day it hit me that I should make a shirt that lists out the reasons of why Cleveland is Cool! With that, the first t-shirt was created and with it, had me starting to think of other ideas about the city and our sports teams that I could create. I quickly realized that I had a knack for clever slogans and creative designs and so I created 5 others to go with the Cle Cool List and with that, Cleveland’s Cool was officially launched in April of 2023, with those first 6 shirts. It has been a year and a half in business now and I’ve been traveling all over the Akron and Cleveland suburbs selling my apparel online and at markets & shows. I’ve been meeting new people and creating incredible memories. We are currently up to 19 t-shirts, 2 hats and our first sweatshirt, and we have an endless list of so many new apparel designs to come!

Our clothing brings a smile to everyone’s face and this is what makes me most proud of the work I have done so far. Any chance I can get to put a smile on someone’s face or create a positive reaction is satisfying to me. Our brand is meant to be fun and bring awareness to the great city of Cleveland. It’s home for me and home to many of you and if we don’t prop it up, no one will!

How’d you think through whether to sell directly on your own site or through a platform like Amazon, Etsy, Cratejoy, etc.

I do sell on my site, as well as sell on Etsy. I have found that having multiple spots for people to see my apparel is huge to gaining more sales. Everyone has different preferences on where they buy their apparel and so I want to try to be in a variety of spots. Etsy fees are a little more than straight on my website so that has been one con, but Etsy does a great job giving people an easy place to shop and buy and I have had success with a number of sales on there since starting so it has been worth it. The website has it’s ups and downs with sales mainly because it takes consistent marketing to promote the site, and media spend is something I try to keep a budget on and pick my spots throughout the year.

Any advice for growing your clientele? What’s been most effective for you?

Attending markets/craft shows/festivals almost every weekend in the Akron/Cleveland area has been huge in growing my clientele. Not only have I seen a large amount of sales from them, but it is also where I have met most of my repeat customers. The ability to be able to be face to face with someone, get to know them and talk with them has been so valuable in continuing to grow the business. At these markets & festivals, I have also been using a promo where anyone who follows me on social media can spin a discount wheel and this has been helpful in growing my clientele base as well.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.clevelandscool.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cle_cool/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100089974658505

Image Credits

Zaina Salem Photography