Downtown Sudbury has a new sportswear retail venue where city sports fans can pick up the latest in locally branded sports apparel.

The official opening of Greater Sports Branded Apparel was held last week at the store location at 105 Durham St.

Greater Sports Branded Apparel is the official retail and custom merchandise division of SWSE (Sudbury Wolves Sports and Entertainment). Along with the Sudbury Arena outlet and the retail store at the mall in New Sudbury, the new Durham Street location is a retail hub. It is also an apparel manufacturing outlet.

Greater Sports said it also provides logoed apparel for other well-known sports organizations, but the specialty is supporting Sudbury sports teams.

Business owner Dario Zulich said he was pleased to see the venue open downtown. He said he was especially proud of the downstairs area of the building where the company has set up sewing machines, heat transfer machines and sublimation machines for transferring digital designs onto clothing.

"This is how the stuff is made right here," said Zulich. He said the new store will offer personal service to ensure the customer gets exactly what they want.

"It's not like ordering something off the Internet where you're not quite sure what you're going to get or when you're going to get it. You can walk here and come inside. You can try on a jacket, try on a hat, see exactly what you're going to get."

Zulich said it is part of his credo to support local businesses.

"So after COVID, I made a promise to myself. I will only support businesses that support me," he said. "So I look around the rink boards and on the basketball court, and if I see a logo there, they support us and we support them."

Also, taking part in the opening ceremony was Downtown Sudbury BIA executive director Jeff MacIntyre, who said he was pleased to see one of the BIA's most active members setting up business in the downtown core. MacIntyre said the BIA is all about making downtown Sudbury a place that is more welcoming, more exciting and a place to grow.

"And this is a great type of business to care about businesses, because they service so many of the businesses in our community," he said.

"And being able to help those businesses brand themselves, to grow, to tell their story is a massive asset for us to have down here."

Len Gillis is a reporter with Sudbury.com.