Greek gods happy over one store's move

They are the Greek gods of campus apparel, and they are in constant competition. But for now, the gods are pleased. Mt. Olympus clothing store, previously located on 40th Street, has moved in with jointly-owned University Sportwear to achieve what owner Steve Shore calls "one really great store." Mt. Olympus, which mostly sells Greek letters and accessories for fraternity and sorority members, has moved from its location on 40th Street to the rear of University Sportswear's Spruce Street store. "We've always had a very successful store," Shore said. "People feel this location will work better for them. It's one superstore." But even though Shore seems happy, the management of Greek Central, a nearby fraternity and sorority specialty store, seems gleeful. "We at Greek Central are always happy when our competitors shrink by 50 percent," store manager Joshua Richter said Wednesday. Shore said the move was not related to competition from Greek Central, which opened in March on Walnut Street near 40th Street. "It wasn't a response to Greek Central," he said. "Even before Greek Central, we had seriously considered consolidation of our operation to make it a more focused operation." Shore said the back wall of University Sportswear was removed to make room for Mt. Olympus. Although the expanded store is still smaller than the two stores combined, Shore said students will not see a decrease in variety. "By putting [both stores] into one, we have the full selection of the Penn [clothing] and the full selection of the Greek [items]," he said. He said the elimination of the Penn T-shirts formerly sold by Mt. Olympus has allowed the variety to remain steady. All Mt. Olympus employees will be moving to the Spruce Street location, Shore said. He added that since they will no longer need to worry about opening and closing the store and working the cash register, they can focus on the sale of Greek items. He said the streamlining will allow Mt. Olympus to continue sewing letters onto apparel in one day, and could ultimately allow them to begin offering same-day service.