Two West Virginia University seniors balance the books both in the classroom and at their store
Juggling a job in college? Yeah, that's pretty normal. But how about balancing running a business and books?
It's the case for Shelby Cavender and Tyler Jeffries, two seniors at West Virginia University.
"In May of this year, we eventually were able to open our storefront on High Street," Shelby Cavender said.
That storefront is called Old School.
"I definitely didn't expect to be a business owner by my senior year," Cavender said.
This is a thrift store of vintage clothing and sneakers. Cavender said there's a lot of vintage WVU clothing, along with Carhartt, camo, and other clothes.
There are also posters for sale, along with records, hats, and other vintage accessories.
What sits now on High Street dates back to high school.
"We've known each other for, like, almost 10 years at this point," Cavender said.
"I sold sneakers online primarily, and then, wanted to sell them in person," co-owner Tyler Jeffries said.
Shelby and Tyler started small.
"We started old school originally as Laced Up 304 in 2024, selling shoes and vintage clothes on our Instagram and online platforms," Cavender said.
"We eventually moved to a storage unit and shot it up kind of like a store," she said.
All that helped build a local client base. Jeffries said somewhere over 500 people came in within the first couple of days of opening. It was busy for them.
"Once we did open the store, we already had our support," Jeffries said.
Shelby and Tyler say they get a lot of creative control here, freedom in terms of what the selection is like.
"A lot of times we're getting them off of like smaller vendors at events or other storefronts in general," Jeffries said. "It's a lot more curated."
There's always something new. Restocks happen weekly at Old School. It has a restock schedule on its Instagram and social media accounts.
"If you came back next Thursday, everything would be different in the store," Jeffries said.
Shelby and Tyler say their thrift store allows for affordability. They're college students, so they get it.
I guess we saw a challenge around like the community of people, maybe not necessarily wanting to spend as much money on something like a pair of sneakers," Cavender said.
Jeffries said they see people coming back multiple times a week to buy full outfits.
This entire journey has taught these two WVU seniors a lot.
"If you want something, you can go do it. It's not that hard," Jeffries said.
Tyler plans to graduate in December. He's majoring in communication studies. Shelby will graduate in the spring. She's studying public health and getting her minor in marketing.
After that? They don't plan to stop welcoming people here.
"Oh, we're not going anywhere," Jeffries said.
"We'll both be able to put a lot more time into the business in terms of expanding it," Cavender said.