Shop Talk: Ransom Supply Opens Brick-and-Mortar in Short North

When Ryan Ransom started selling face masks out of his apartment window during the COVID-19 pandemic, he didn’t expect that two years later, he’d open a storefront in the Short North. 

“I never thought I’d really start my own brand, but opportunities just kind of all fell into place,” Ransom said. 

Ransom Supply is a unisex apparel brand located at 988 N. High St., the former home of Sarah Gormley gallery which relocated Downtown. The shop opened November 18 and sells items such as shirts, jackets, hoodies, sweatpants, hats and socks.  

Ransom founded the brand in April 2020 during the early weeks of the pandemic lockdown. One day while visiting the store, Ransom — who has asthma and parents that are essential workers — noticed a few people wearing masks. 

“This was before any mandates had been enforced and nobody knew what was going on,” he said. “So I went home and had a bunch of leftover fabric in my basement, and I just started chopping it up.” 

Ransom has some experience sewing and said he isn’t afraid to try new things. He learned how to make masks through Google and YouTube tutorials and started sharing the process on his Instagram Stories.

As a freelance creative, Ransom said most of his job is in-person stylings and photoshoots, which made him unable to work during the pandemic lockdown. 

“I had nothing else to do, so I just started sewing,” he said. “I was making fashion-forward face masks, so they were all really cool textures and patterns. It was all good, quality fabric. It wasn’t just some cheap throwaway type of deal.”

After seeing his work, Ransom said people started asking him to make masks for them. A couple of days later, Ransom made a post on his Instagram asking for people interested in buying a mask to message him. 

“The next day I woke up and it was just like this Google Doc that I made with a hundred names on it overnight,” Ransom said. 

Ransom quickly realized the high demand meant he would need a better system than his Google Doc link. His experience in eCommerce and marketing meant he was able to build a website by the end of the month. 

Ransom set up a drop-box in front of his apartment that allowed him to sell masks out of his window. The demand continued to grow and Ransom started shipping masks as well. Once businesses were able to reopen, Ransom moved his local pick-up operation from his home to his friend’s Short North boutique, FERA. 

Ransom said he never wanted to be the “face mask guy.” He started testing the waters by introducing a bandana into the mix and later a hoodie. Both products were well-received, so he started putting together his first capsule collection with a handful of products that launched September 2020. 

Ransom said his brand is an extension of his lifestyle and he integrates his experiences, such as traveling and exploring, and spiritual practices like meditating, into his designs. 

“I have a lot of really great connections with designers that I look up to and am inspired by, so everything is kind of a collaborative effort between the people in my network to bring all these visions to life,” he said. 

Ransom’s love for basketball is another big part of the brand’s aesthetic. A perfect arraignment of basketballs are situated above the shop’s front desk and a hoop is installed on the wall across the room. 

In addition to the storefront, Ransom has a pop-up space at the Marketplace at Gravity in Franklinton. Ransom said his designs are seasonal and he releases a big collection around four times a year, with smaller collections released here and there. 

Now that Ransom has a storefront and a pop-up space, he said the release of new designs will be more frequent. 

“It’s also tough to be vulnerable with concepts and letting people see your work, but I feel like when it is more authentic, people can see that and feel that,” Ransom said. 

Ransom Supply is located at 988 N. High St. and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Sunday from 12 – 5 p.m. More information about the shop can be found on its website, ransom.supply.

All photos by Ashley Kimmel unless otherwise noted