Small Business Spotlight: We Bleed Ohio

By Ian Meadows

From start-up to storefront, We Bleed Ohio is one of Downtown’s amazing small businesses located in the heart of our bustling city center. Nestled inside the historic 5th Street Arcades (530 Euclid Avenue, #43), owner Dave Gruss took his passions for design and apparel and transformed them into a fun business venture.

Featuring a variety of apparel (screenprinted in-house), stickers, hats, décor, and more, this shop is filled with lots of fun Cleveland-themed merchandise.

Continue reading to hear from Dave himself about his journey to open this business and why it’s so special operating We Bleed Ohio in Downtown Cleveland.

Why did you first decide to start your own business and launch We Bleed Ohio?

I always had the talent for drawing and design and ever since I was a kid, I loved cool graphic t-shirts. Because of my interests in sports, most of my drawings consisted of athletes and sports team logos or doodling pop culture characters. After years of doing the 9-5 and not being happy sitting at the desk job, I started freelance designing apparel on the side for t-shirt sites and band merch. Dabbling in that for a few years I knew it was something I wanted to pursue on my own.

— We Bleed Ohio owner, Dave Gruss.

How did you get your start, and how did you get to where you are today with your storefront in the 5th Street Arcades?

Cleveland Bazaar in the 5th Street Arcades

I started submitting to online t-shirt sites where they would pick designs to print on shirts and pay the artists. Then I joined a few t-shirts design communities online where artists could share stuff they were working on. It helped me learn a lot about the design and print process for apparel and find a few freelance gigs. After dabbling in that for a few years, I came up with two Cleveland sports related designs and launched We Bleed Ohio.

I started selling online and outside sporting events. I later learned about Cleveland Bazaar that hosts events for artists and small businesses to sell their products. Cleveland Bazaar was hosting an event at the 5th Street arcades during Winterfest (now WinterLand). It all just came together at the right time, and a few months later I opened the We Bleed Ohio storefront in May of 2015.  

In-house screen printing

What’s something you’d like people to know about We Bleed Ohio for those not familiar with it?

We design all of our own apparel and not only that, we screenprint everything by hand. We also do custom print jobs and host private screen printing parties.

What do you enjoy most about owning your business and being part of the Downtown Cleveland community?

I remember coming to Cleveland as a kid for sports, shopping, dinners, movies, live events and many other great family memories that just stuck with me. I want people to come to Downtown Cleveland to explore and be able to have those same memorable experiences. 

Be sure to support We Bleed Ohio and all of Downtown Cleveland’s small businesses!