On a Tuesday in the middle of the afternoon, days before the historic weekend when both Syracuse University’s men’s and women’s basketball teams will play in the Final Four, Manny’s on Marshall Street was in a state of chaos.

Customers could barely move through the store as people rummaged through stacks of newly ordered T-shirts, trying to find the size they wanted or a design they liked. The 20-person line reached the end of the store and streams of people — mostly families — kept coming in, leaving little room for the staff at Manny’s to breathe.

“We’re swamped in here,” said an employee at Manny’s. “It’s crazy.”

He said the store has been selling thousands of T-shirts per day since Sunday, when both the men’s and women’s teams advanced to the Final Four.

Zach Barlow | Asst. Photo Editor

“We’re making history here,” he said. “We’re the underdog, so I think that’s why people are even more excited.”

Syracuse is the first No. 10 seed team to make it into the Final Four. This is also the first year the women’s team has made it into the Final Four.

Manny’s is not the only business on Marshall Street reaping the benefits of SU’s basketball victories. Shirt World, another SU apparel seller, has also seen an uptick in business since Sunday.

“Business is good, business is great. We’re kickin’ it,” said Dave Jacobs, the owner of Shirt World, before he went back to ringing up customers. He said the store was too swamped to take more time to provide further comment.

Jimmy John’s, a sandwich shop on Marshall Street, saw huge increases in business during and directly after the Elite Eight game on Sunday when the men upset No. 1 seed University of Virginia. A Jimmy John’s employee said the store exceeded what employees were expecting in sales, especially because it was Easter.

“Before the game we were extremely busy,” the employee said. “But after the game it was complete chaos, to say the least.”
He said Jimmy John’s is planning to have more staff working on Saturday night, when the men’s team will play North Carolina in Houston.

As far as bars in the area go, Faegan’s will also be expecting a huge bump in business, not only for the both the men’s and women’s basketball games, but also the University of Notre Dame and SU men’s lacrosse game on Saturday.

“We’re going to be pretty slammed,” said Meg Dellas, a manager at Faegan’s. “I think people are just going to keep on coming in.”

Published on March 31, 2016 at 9:37 pm

Contact Rachel: rsandler@syr.edu