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THE OMAHA STAR
THE OMAHA STAR, INC. THE VOICE OF THE BLACK COMMUNITY
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February 17, 2023
“DeLon - DeLon - DeLon” By HABERDASH O.N.E.
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Terri D. Sanders - publisher@omahastarinc.com Business Hours: Monday – Friday: 9 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. Member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association Mildred D. Brown: Founder, July 9, 1938 Dr. Marguerita L. Washington: Publisher, 1989 - 2016 Phyllis Hicks: Publisher/Managing Editor, 2016 - 2019 Terri D. Sanders, Publisher Beryl Barnes: Administrator Calvin Lacy: Retail Distributor THE OMAHA STAR believes that America can best lead the world away from racial and national antagonism when it accords every man, regardless of race, color or creed, his human and legal rights. Hating no man, fearing no man in the firm belief that all are hurt as long as one is held back.
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It’s been well over a decade now that I’ve met and kept in touch with Delon. He was one of the “shopkeepers” at The Brooklyn Circus in Brooklyn NY and we met on my of trips to the city while shopping there. Everyone at the Brooklyn Circus would treat you as if you’re a part of the “Fam” there and would present themselves in that moment as if they were your very own personal shop concierge. I remember being so happy for Delon and his coworkers as I would begin to see them in national ad campaigns online for the Varsity Jackets and sweatshirts for the brand, seeing they were on the “come up”! One by one as the various young men at the shop would mature, age, and transition it was always bittersweet for me though. I’d have to establish a new familiarity and connection with a “regular” who would remember to set aside the new article(s) for me on drop day and be ready for my phone order and shipment here to Omaha. Delon would recognize me on the phone and respond with those comforting and joyous words…”yeah you know I already got you”. The sweet part about it is EVERY one of the young men I became acquainted with at the shop transitioned to the most amazing ventures! Really…like, you’ve got to be kidding me level opportunities! This was no different for Delon! Delon is a native of Brooklyn NY and was born to a family of artists and creatives. His father, brothers, and sisters all possess the same ability to draw artistically and he intermittently worked with one of his brothers who is a skilled artisan & carpenter. So Delon being destined for the arts is classically trained and was a decorated and award winning published artist as soon as his tenure in Brooklyn High School of the Arts (BHSA) or “Brooklyn Arts”. Some of his earliest recollections of drawing as a child reminds him of his exuberance of his times cartooning and using his artistic skills as an icebreaker in social settings, eventually being known as the kid that can draw. He even leaned into his abilities as he grew up forging relationships being recognized as the artist guy so to speak. Although somewhat soft spoken and reserved in demeanor in my experiences, I couldn’t help but with the advent of social media (instagram) notice his poignant, just shy of dark sense of humor, which rarely falls short of hilarity! This would be shocking to me given his somewhat reservedness in person…which eventually made sense to me considering the old adage of “still waters running deep”. This also translates into his various artistic expressions as well! You’re rarely ever left without being made to both feel and consider what he chooses to share of his compositions or social commentary and I learned interviewing him for this piece that it’s not by accident! Delon let me know that he does absolutely nothing publicly without considerable intentionality…especially in his paintings which is his self proclaimed forte. Delon said he forwent further formal art training due to the fact that it just didn’t match up to the hands on post secondary education he was receiving right there interning at the “BKC” after school, which he said WAS his university, where he would eventually be employed. He spoke of not imagining not being around the shops day to day operations where he was being exposed to literally a global clientele, being bolstered by a global business model and practices, unparalleled standards and expectations, with a work ethic being modeled by the owner Ouigi Theodore like nothing he had ever witnessed to that point before! He further exclaims it’s a “watering hole to this day” where he with both current and former staff drop in to “reciprocate” what they’ve received from Ouigi and the shop sharing professional insights, experiences, etc…again, to this very day.
In true storied NYC fashion, after leaving the nest of the BKC and entering into the broader career terrain, Delon soon found himself (unsurprisingly to me) a concierge at a major luxury brand, coincidently a store manager for a major retailer, a corporate E-com manager for an International brand, a graphic design stint in Las Vegas, back to Brooklyn opening his very own print shop, coincidently running E-com for Zipper Stop, COVID and all that it implied and affected, collaborative work with Cruze Control Creative Agency, working on accounts with CHAMPS and Foot Locker, Her Kai & I, a Kyrie Irving apparel project / graphic design and merchandising up to February 2021, among so many other projects and collaborations without space enough to mention! The self narrated, very detailed and climactic version of this career journey will be made available via podcast here at The Omaha Star Newspaper soon! You’ve got to hear Delon speak of the ups, downs, round and rounds with the commensurate emotions to boot smh. Words cannot even describe! Which brings us to the amazing conclusion of this article… Delon still owns and operates Quick Strike Print Shop in Brooklyn NY, which currently holds a design and production account with Spike Lee’s 40 acres and a Mule amongst various other notable accounts, coincidently…LOL Delon hails to us from SLAM MAGAZINE (NYC) as the Director of Marketing of the Apparel Division! He and his staff are responsible for creating and designing the apparel, story telling, strategy of roll outs (the look/feel/ marketing of the apparel & merchandise in both print and online), and the brands’ partnerships and collaborations. [Jordan Brand/Foot Locker/Nike/Adidas] All while strategically planning for client base growth and expansion. I told Delon how absolutely exhausting it sounded hearing of all it took for him to make this journey to the upper ranks in the media industry, coupled with how much work he’s yet involved in. I asked him of career opportunities with there seemingly being so much work needing to be done and available…and his response was shocking! Delon asserts that there’s a scarcity of personnel due to not only the residual consequences of the pandemic, but there just not being enough individuals entering the workforce that are willing to come into the industry on the ground level and be dedicated enough to actually work their way up the ranks, which is more probable and achievable then not! He said employees enter the industry immediately desiring the “shine” positions and scoff at the “grunt work” it may take to catapult them there. It’s his assertion that there’s actually more work than hire at this point. When I asked Delon if he’s taken the time to enjoy all that he’s accomplished at such a young age (now midupper 30’s )…he said he hadn’t taken the time to estimate it as he was doing in real time during our hour long interview, but Oh the accomplished journey it is and is yet becoming!
😉
He did say perhaps the most rewarding thing for him to date is that ALL of his youthful dreaming, imagining, and conceptualizing that he’d now share from corporate opportunity to corporate opportunity were FINALLY given a platform thanks to Les Green, the CEO of SLAM MAGAZINE. They ideas materializing just as he had artistically dreamed! “I wasn’t crazy, these ideas are working, they found a home here at SLAM MAGAZINE, it’s an amazing work environment and a great place where you can grow professionally, it’s working!” Opportunity abounds young people! Take that from Delon George… @JorgeSanchez_ himself! •
