While scrolling Instagram in 2019, Jade Alexander came across someone making sweatshirts.
“I could do that,” she thought.
So Alexander’s mom helped her start up a business, and when COVID hit, sales boomed as people started shopping online more frequently.
Seven years later, her business, 402threads, has more than 10,000 combined social media followers and is opening its first brick-and-mortar location at Gateway Mall, next to American Eagle, on Sept. 18. The store, which sells Husker-themed clothing, has a six-month lease with the mall, something Alexander said is meant to give her the chance to decide whether she wants to stick around for the long haul.
Self-taught, Alexander designs and creates the merchandise for her company, spending countless hours scrolling online to find out what’s trendy and what’s not.
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Eventually, she ended up getting licensed by the university.
“That was the best day of my life,” she said.
Growing up in Nebraska, Alexander always knew she wanted to focus on Husker merchandise, something she’d been around her whole life and knew there was a big market for.
“They’re gonna buy Nebraska stuff,” she said. “That’s just how we do it.”
The business has grown into a full-time job, with Alexander’s family even getting involved.
Her mom has since helped take over some of the workload, waking up early to ship orders and helping her press clothes after work, something she’s come to really love doing, Alexander said. Perhaps more importantly, she’s around whenever Alexander is working from home and needs a hug.
And while 402threads has been a success online, Alexander will now have to figure out how to run a storefront.
The company’s Gateway Mall location will have a custom "bar" at the back of the store, where customers will be able to watch Alexander work and make custom orders, an idea from her dad. The store will also have a press and embroidery machine.
As she sets up, Alexander’s brother is helping her out. He’ll be her first employee, and she said they work really well together — even if siblings argue sometimes.
Once the store opens, Alexander said she’s willing to take no days off for the full six months, but eventually hopes to hire some more employees.
She also knows not everything will be sunshine and roses. Alexander said she’s learned from merchandise that didn’t sell as well that not every idea can be “super successful,” but it's made her a stronger business owner.
“Failing ultimately makes it easier to succeed,” she said.
Now, Alexander will face another challenge: Dropping mall traffic. She thinks her shop is opening at the perfect time of year — right before the holidays — to take it on, and while she does have some concerns people won’t come in person, she’s already thinking of ways to bring them in.
This year, the mall will double as a stop for iPronto’s new private charter shuttle that will bus fans to Husker gamedays on Saturdays. Alexander hopes it will bring some extra people to her store on gamedays.
She’s also brainstorming a campaign to pull at people’s mall nostalgia.
“We’re bringing the mall back,” she said. “It’d be a great place to shop before a football game.”
