If you’re a student looking for an ironic T-shirt to get a laugh in sociology class, a pair of dress pants to impress your significant other at dinner or some scrubs for the “Naughty Nurses” theme party this weekend, you’re in luck.

Tomorrow marks the grand opening of Barry and Steve’s Clothing Exchange, a retail clothing store that’s a cross between a Salvation Army store and an outlet.

“On the one hand, you can buy clothing that would be suitable for an interview or a dinner date,” store manager and senior history major Thomas Rushin said. “At the same time, we have comical T-shirts and ties.”

Filling the empty storefront on Knox Road left by Bikini Splash, Barry and Steve’s offers a wide range of clothing – both brand new and slightly used – at low prices. Amid the sea of campy items such as a Mr. T “I pity the fool” T-shirt, a Kellogg’s cereal character tie and a SpongeBob Squarepants wool hat are brands such as The North Face, Nike, Nordstrom, Gap, Ralph Lauren and Nautica – all brand new with the tags to prove it.

Any T-shirt, mesh shorts or hat costs $3.33; polos and dress shirts, ties, sweatshirts and other shorts are $5 each; and pants, sports jerseys and jackets are all $10. Because of the economic downturn, the store has been able to purchase large quantities of brand name, in-season clothing for rock-bottom costs as other stores go out of business, Rushin said.

“We’re college students; we’re broke,” freshman accounting major Olga Grishko said. “Cheap clothing is always good.”

While the store has been open all week, Rushin said they will begin marketing and advertising campaigns tomorrow after the grand opening. Based on foot traffic and word of mouth alone, many customers have already wandered into the store, offsetting labor costs.

Though the store is packed with stacks of jeans, multiple racks of T-shirts and a bin of several dozen hats and shoes, the actual building contains only one-fourth of the available inventory. The rest can be ordered online and sent to the store with no additional shipping costs, Rushin said.

Barry and Steve’s also acts as a thrift store: It will buy clothing from anyone for store credit or cash. But the details of the system have yet to be worked out.

“Unless an item is absolutely horrid, we’ll probably take it,” Rushin said.

The store is open seven days a week but, as of yet, only accepts credit or debit cards.

Because Barry and Steve’s has a collection of eclectic and nuanced clothing – including gas station attendant and restaurant server uniforms – Rushin said the store could become theme-party headquarters.

“We have paramedic stuff, military stuff, police stuff,” he said. “So far, the jerseys have definitely appealed to the students.”

Customers will find Washington Redskins jerseys nestled between old-school Washington Bullets jerseys and referee uniforms.

Students seem excited about the new retail option hitting the downtown area, they said.

“It seems like a great idea,” freshman aerospace engineering major Nico Guetatchew said. “It saves a trip going back home [to shop for clothes].”

Grishko equated the thrift store to “hunting for treasure” and said students will probably have more fun than the average shopping trip.

Some were skeptical about wearing used clothing but admitted there were advantages to the new store.

“I guess if I needed something for a party I’d go,” sophomore biology major Sarita Mistry said, but added she probably wouldn’t buy much else from the store “unless it was cute.”

But Rushin is optimistic the store’s vast selection and mixture of strange used clothes and inexpensive new clothes coupled with a few other odd items will help the business thrive.

“We even have 1970s vintage roller skates!” he added.

Owner Scott Sussman declined to comment.

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