Student-owned ‘T-SWAP’ brings new 'purpose' to downtown Willimantic

Eastern student Caio de Sousa has wasted no time getting involved in Willimantic’s small business scene. Along with friend Griffin Ryan, the sophomore accounting major co-owns and operates T-Shirts with a Purpose (T-SWAP), a printing and marketing service located on Main Street.

T-SWAP provides commercial apparel printing and graphic design for local businesses, as well as digital marketing services for small businesses. Additionally, T-SWAP outsources designs from freelance artists, who receive 30% of profits from products featuring their work, and houses a performing arts venue called the Inkwell.

T-SWAP’s clients include Asian Bistro Mansfield, local author Charles Bruckerhoff, Thread City Diner II, Rusty Kiln LLC, Khuyay Farm Alpacas, and more.

Though the business has taken much hard work to build and maintain, de Sousa says the opportunity “fell into our lap” during the COVID-19 pandemic. His father had a silk-screen press from his college days, which Ryan began using while living with de Sousa and his parents.

Thread City Diner II (then called the Hoppy Days Diner) was the duo’s first client. “We made these ‘pot head’ shirts, but with (a picture of) a coffee pot,” said de Sousa. “We realized it’s lucrative.”

Four months later, Ryan bought the duo’s first “big boy” industrial-grade press, and the two began mass-producing tie-dyed t-shirts in de Sousa’s home. “It was a mess … that was the catalyst toward being like, ‘okay, we’re in it now.’”

Keen to no longer make a mess of dyes and inks in his family home, de Sousa struck gold while power-washing the storefront of his mother’s (art and art history Lecturer Daniela de Sousa) business, Spiral Arts Studio, when he met Joe Smith, the property manager of the space T-SWAP now occupies.

“We had just gotten a contract from the Asian Bistro to start doing their social media marketing,” said de Sousa. “He invited us in; we saw the space. We thought it'd be a perfect place to put the shop, and he offered to split it with us.”

De Sousa and Ryan upgraded from subletting to ownership when the building’s owner at the time, attorney Joan Sinder, was eager to sell it. “We just wanted to buy oil for the winter, so we got in contact with her, and she was so happy to get rid of that thing,” he said. “She made us an offer we couldn’t refuse.”

Now, de Sousa does the heavy lifting of maintaining his space, leaning on his background and friends. “My dad is a contractor, so I grew up around him building,” he said. “When it comes to building, it’s easier for me to go for it, and I can have Joey (Smith) and Griffin (Ryan) help me out when I need them to.”

De Sousa aspires for T-SWAP to become a community cornerstone in an increasingly vibrant Main Street scene. He, along with other area business owners, participates in the Willimantic Downtown Neighborhood Association, maintaining solidarity with each other.

“I would like to be a big part of the revitalization of downtown Willimantic,” he said. “I'm happy that there's something going on here. You just need movement, so I think that within the next 10 years, we're going to be able to see major change in this area.”