The last two years have not been kind to many in retail, but there are some that have been able to thrive.
In a day and age where many businesses are facing hard times, Jamel Newsome and his brand are at the top of their game.
“Mastermind is bigger than a store; Mastermind is a way of life, lifestyle of fashion, lifestyle of living,” said Newsome, Mastermind’s owner. “That’s why we focus on brands that Syracuse, New York won’t get, so our competition is kind of none.”
Across the nation, many malls are losing stores. Mastermind is expanding to a second Destiny USA location across the Midway.
“Customers go to the mall to find rare stuff, nice stuff,” Newsome said. “If your store is not delivering on nice stuff, you’re not getting business. It’s a simple fact.”
As far as the street fashion of Mastermind, Newsome says you need a few things: customer feedback, accessibility and exclusivity.
“We have a brand that is from Paris — shipped from Paris,” he said, going through the inventory at the mall location. “We have more from Japan and a brand called Gifted LA, which is a luxury brand to L.A., and another brand that will not be in New York, Syracuse, New York, ever.”
Beyond the neon lights and racks of original clothing boosting sales, there’s a mission.
“Now, Mastermind’s calling is to go back to the streets of Syracuse and help others,” Newsome said.
And so it’s back to where it all started, the original Mastermind outlet store on Salina Street where the dream began in 2013 and went brick-and-mortar five years later with purpose.
“Things like clothing, DJing, anything to bring Syracuse to life. We’re behind,” said Newsome. “We don’t want to look on Instagram and see what they do in other states; we want other states to look at Instagram, see what [we are] doing.”
Some of the focus, especially in the mall location, is promoting the house brand.
“We want to get Mastermind clothing out, but I know from just being a business person, a lot of people just don’t want Mastermind clothing,” Newsome said.
But the original shop is now serving much more than the brand; it’ll soon include other local brands, giving opportunity to Black and Brown residents – and most importantly, from the streets of the Salt City to the world.
“I’m going to show Syracuse: Look at him, look at her, and let you guys see there’s a lot of creative people in here,” said Newsome. “Just like how Syracuse can do stuff to build buildings. There are local people who can run those buildings and be more successful than a person who is actually building it.”
Mastermind is in the process of opening Mastermind Kidz across the way from its Destiny USA location. All three locations will continue to focus on exclusive clothing lines and supporting hyper-local startups.
