Unsold HOMAGE apparel officially hits shelves at all 13 Goodwill Columbus retail locations on Friday, September 4, giving Central Ohio shoppers a fresh reason to hunt for vintage-inspired sports gear right as Ohio State football season gets underway. The inventory became available after the Columbus-based apparel brand consolidated its warehouse operations and relocated regionally, freeing up merchandise that otherwise might have gone unsold.
The partnership stems directly from that operational shift, according to Goodwill Columbus, which confirmed the inventory became available following HOMAGE's recent warehouse move and inventory consolidation. As reported by WSYX, the apparel's arrival at all 13 stores is timed ahead of football season, giving Buckeye fans and sports apparel shoppers a new stop on their pregame shopping list.
From a Bexley Basement to National Sports Licensing
HOMAGE's roots trace back to 2007, when founder Ryan Vesler launched the company from his parents' basement in Bexley, Ohio, selling vintage-inspired sports T-shirts on eBay and out of cardboard boxes, according to the National Center for the Middle Market. Vesler was 23 at the time, and the brand's early identity centered on comfortable fabrics and nostalgic storytelling that eventually carried it well beyond a regional following.
While HOMAGE remains closely associated with Ohio State Buckeye fan gear, the company now holds official national licensing agreements with the NFL, MLB, NBA, and MLS, and generates roughly 70% of its sales outside Ohio, per the article notes from Columbus Business First. That national reach was underscored last September, when HOMAGE partnered with football historians and city leaders to dedicate a historical marker at 16 East Broad Street downtown, commemorating the site as the 1921 original headquarters of the National Football League and the office of former NFL executive Joe F. Carr, according to the Greater Columbus Sports Commission.
A Donation Program With Apparel Perks
The HOMAGE drop also plugs into Goodwill Columbus's donor engagement strategy. In January 2025, the nonprofit launched Do Good, a mobile loyalty rewards program created alongside SWACO that awards points to community members for donating gently used items, with perks that include exclusive access to HOMAGE apparel drops. The program is designed to incentivize reuse over landfill disposal, turning routine donation drop-offs into something closer to a rewards-club transaction.
That environmental mission carries real weight for the organization. Goodwill Columbus diverted 7.3 million pounds of material from Central Ohio landfills in 2024 while equipping 11,955 individuals with job training and career advancement services, according to data compiled by Cause IQ. Retail store sales directly fund those free job training and disability support services, meaning every HOMAGE sweatshirt or T-shirt sold this week has a line back to workforce programming.
Milestones and Expansion Across Central Ohio
The apparel launch arrives during a period of rapid growth for the 87-year-old nonprofit. Goodwill Columbus announced earlier this year that it had reached its long-term milestone of serving more than 100,000 individuals, hitting that target five years ahead of its original 2030 deadline. The organization also expanded its physical footprint in March, opening a 13,000-square-foot store in Westerville at 60 E. Schrock Rd. inside a former Big Lots building — now its largest retail location in Central Ohio.
Institutional funders have taken notice of that momentum. In April, Goodwill Industries of Central Ohio received a $450,000 workforce development grant from JPMorganChase to expand paid work-based learning and job training programs for low-income adults and youth, with the funding supporting stackable credentials and individualized career coaching.
Goodwill Columbus traces its history back to 1939, when Rev. Charles Graham founded the organization in an abandoned church on Mount Vernon Avenue. Today it employs more than 1,100 people across Franklin County under President and CEO Ryan Burgess, who took over leadership of the nonprofit in 2021. Open questions remain around exactly how much HOMAGE inventory and how many styles will be spread across the 13 stores, whether the retail arrangement becomes a recurring seasonal event, and how revenue from these specific drops will be allocated toward Goodwill's local job training programs.
