Sophomore Dayton Merli was helping out at his grandmother’s house over spring break in 2024 when he stumbled upon a vintage clothing goldmine: hundreds of his dad’s old NASCAR t-shirts from the 90s and early 2000s. After combing through his discovery, he decided to try his hand at selling them.
That was a year and a half ago. Since then, Merli has expanded his clothing business, Three Rivers Vintage, sourcing clothing from the 70s to the 90s from estate sales and vintage clothing companies. His business was one of the student-owned businesses showcased at the Student Entrepreneur Fair in the Triangle on April 17.
Merli credits the success of his business to the skills he has learned through his coursework and when talking to different entrepreneurs.
“A lot of the marketing classes I take have helped me, specifically digital marketing with Zachary Ross,” Merli said. “Zach has helped me a lot with posters and flyers. You know, the color scheme of different things and how they can alter your brain. So that’s a pretty cool thing that I’ve learned through them.”
Merli is currently operating his business through a series of summer pop-ups, but has plans to expand in the future.
“In the future, I’m looking to possibly have an overhead, you know, a physical brick and mortar or an online store,” Merli said. “That’s always the dream.”
While Merli hopes to one day turn his business into a career, other students have turned their hobbies into a side hustle.
Junior Alexa Giannoulis began her cake pop business, Pop and Dip, with her sister, and began making cake pops for small events on occasion. Last year, she began to sell them at the Entrepreneur Fair.
“I always liked baking and so did my sister, and then one day we started doing them, and we’re like, ‘Hey, we’re kind of good at this,’” Giannoulis said. “We started doing them for my cousin’s graduation party.”
Every time she has participated in the fair, with the exception of this most recent fair, she has sold out, Giannoulis said.
“It’s just regular cake and chocolate on it,” Giannoulis said. “It’s nothing too fancy, but people love them.”
Running businesses have not only allowed students to explore their interests and hobbies, but have helped to build valuable skills, such as navigating how to set fair pricing.
“My sister’s just the baker. I used to do them too, but I was more managing the business,” Giannoulis said. “It’s kind of hard coming up with prices. I have a friend who sells stuff, and I looked at her prices, looked at like Starbucks prices for it, and then just making our prices.”
Merli says that, for his business particularly, which appeals to a college-aged audience, pricing is one of his foremost concerns.
“I try to keep pricing as minimal as I possibly can. Reasonable, of course, but minimal,” Merli said. “I try to keep it cheap, specifically for college students because I understand how tuition is.”
Overall, students found the opportunity to showcase their passion very valuable.
“These are my field days. These are the fun days that I look forward to. I just always like to make people smile, especially with this,” Merli said.
