New Haven Independent

As Barry Cobden moves forward on a plan to expand Campus Clothing Company store into the abandoned theaters of the York Square Cinema, he made a pitch to city officials to make allowance for an unusual use of the space.

Cobden’s Campus Clothing Company is known for its line of Yale sweats, tees and trinkets seen through the window on Broadway. Starting as a teenage student worker, he’s spent 43 years working on that now-upscale commercial strip, owned by Yale University and frequented by its students.

“I’m not going to work another 43 years,” he told the Board of Zoning Appeals Tuesday night. Cobden plans to turn the company over to his sons, Jeremy (pictured in middle) and Joel (pictured at right). He plans to use the York Square Cinemas as a place to consolidate the manufacturing side of his business with the retail side, as well as expand the surface area of retail along Broadway.

The production company, Campus Customs, buys shirts, mugs and hats in bulk, then labels them through silkscreens and embroidery, then sells branded products to 350 different colleges, said Joel, who currently oversees that process in an industrial park in Hamden. The family wants to move production from Hamden to the York Square theaters. The front part of the old cinema — about 3,500 of the first floor’s 11,000 square feet — would be used for retail, expanding the store’s visibility along the heavily traveled sidewalk.

Joel testified the process won’t bring any odors, noises or harmful substances downtown. Since the use is a peculiar — not typical factory production, but not just retail — the family came before the board for a use variance. They’re also asking for a waiver of parking and loading dock requirements.

“You guys run a great operation,” said BZA member Chris Vigilante as the matter came to a close after some questions over odors and vents. The proposal passes to City Plan Commission next week, then to a BZA vote on April 10.