Local cafes, stores sell student's Internet T-shirts

Three weeks ago College senior Emiliano Calemzuk was sitting in psychology class, doodling to cure his boredom, when he came up with the idea to make t-shirts displaying the Internet symbol @, he said. "I'm a net freak," he said. "And all of a sudden I looked at the @ sign and I was like, 'Wow, this would make a great t-shirt.'" Calemzuk then proposed his idea to some "techno-freaks" who said they loved the slogan: "Been on the net too long?" The slogan now appears on the back of the t-shirts which are emblazoned with the @ sign on the front. After spending two hours on his computer to develop the design and trading several paychecks for white t-shirts, Calemzuk is now in business. While the "WebWare" shirts will not be sold on campus until Thursday, when they will be available on Locust Walk, some businesses throughout the city have been selling them for the past few weeks. Cafe des Artistes, located at 611 South Broad Street, was first to sell the t-shirt. The coffeehouse decided to sell the t-shirt because it offers customers access to the Internet along with their cappuccino. Although the Cafe des Artistes normally sells art, not clothing, the t-shirts fit in with this month's Internet theme, according to Francis Green, the manager of the cafe. "The t-shirts are in line with one of the catches of the cafe," she said. "We're offering free Internet access in February." Yesterday, the cafe sold four of the six shirts they received in the morning, Green added. Calemzuk's t-shirt is also the first article of clothing to be sold by Game Gallery, the video game store located at 505 South Street. "The only reason we did it is [I am] on the Internet," said Wayne Hruslinski, the store's district manager. "It was just interesting." Although the two stores that have started selling the shirts attract different types of customers, WebWare is selling well at both locations. "Anybody who is familiar with the Internet likes them," Hruslinski said. "We sold nine or 10 today. That's good though -- we started selling them today." The t-shirts will also be sold at The Last Drop Coffeehouse at 1300 Pine Street. For a charge, Calemzuk will deliver the t-shirts to those living on campus. "It makes a great gift too, you know," he said. "If you know someone who spends a lot of time on the Net." If the t-shirts sell well, WebWare will add sweatshirts and sweatpants, among other items, to its line. Calemzuk said that if he makes any money from his new T-shirt company, he will use it to throw a huge party for his friends. "I'm doing it for the hell of it," he said. "I'm not this money sucker."