Courtesy Summit Clothing Co.
By Jill Nagy
In a shop on the lower level of the Saratoga Marketplace on Broadway in Saratoga Springs, Liam Rice sells simple clothing with a lofty purpose.
The shop, Summit Clothing Co., has T-shirts, hoodies and caps and donates 10 percent of all receipts and a portion of monthly profits to The Giving Circle, a Saratoga Springs charity that helps young people in Uganda and other parts of world.
Rice, a 2019 Siena College graduate, founded the company in 2016, but did not have a store location. His first batch of about a dozen hoodies sold out quickly to family and friends. Gradually, he expanded his inventory and began to sell online and at the local Farmers Market.
The shop at the 454 Broadway marketplace opened April 20.
Summit’s line of street wear and athletic wear features the business’s logo—a steep mountain top and the word “Summit”— on simply designed clothing in a rainbow of colors.
“We keep it simple,” he said, “and we have a color for everybody.” Most of the items are manufactured in Los Angeles, made of organic cotton. Other items are manufactured in South America. The hats are made in China.
Rice became involved with The Giving Circle in 2014, when he was a student at Saratoga Central High School. He helped with a fundraiser to pay for a water well at Cagoma Gate, one of the organization’s two campuses in Uganda. When he learned of the effect of the well on that community, he became more enthusiastic about the organization and, in 2016, he partnered with them in his new business.
Among its programs,The Giving Circle has two campuses in Ugnada—at Busoga and Cagoma Gate. Each campus has a school, an orphanage, a medical clinic and a small farm. Rice has made five visits to the African outposts. He goes about every six months. He also serves on the organization’s board of directors.
Rice runs his business with the help of interns from Saratoga High School and friends and family members who volunteer. So far, he said his business is “going great. Saratoga treats us well.”
Summit Clothing is open 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays and Mondays; 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays; 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays; and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturdays. The store is closed on Tuesday. The website is summitclothingcompany.com. The telephone number is 518 935-5335.