Many people see a golden opportunity they have at hand; but never take time to appreciate their value of it. Some people take their shot and are afraid it is going to be an air ball. Some just give up and say that their golden opportunity is wasted. But few sacrifice to make their golden opportunity into their reality.
In 2016, Main Street, (better known as Tiger Village); had a lot of spaces and store fronts for rent. Many storefronts were empty and up for rent.
In the spring of 2017, senior Satell Ultra took the opportunity to open a clothing store near Grambling State University. Satell is actually Ultra’s middle name and Ultra meaning the highest power of anything and everything.
Ultra is originally from Jacksonville, Fla., but graduated high school from Georgia. “I moved around a lot when I was a kid because I am a military child. But I still claim Jacksonville as my hometown,” Ultra stated.
Ultra started his business off small by selling hats featuring his own brand around campus.
“I saw a lot a people wearing caps around school, especially during the fall,” Ultra said. “A lot of people started rocking with from there.”
Ultra started his business with the concept that customers who bought his hats would be interested in more merchandise.
Ultra rented the property in 2017 with money he made by selling his merchandise. To advertise the business, he posted flyers and passed out business cards around GSU campus.
The idea of the store, named Rare Trait, is to provide more fashionable options for students around GSU’s campus.
“What made me open the store into fashion sense was when I was in high school, I used to make my own clothes, and everyone like what I was wearing and created. So I decided to go public with it,” Ultra said.
He also has his own brand of clothes fittingly called Ultra that he wanted to market on a larger scale, which is just another reason why he wanted to open the store.
“I called the store Rare Trait because fashion sense is an uncommon characteristic and a very rare trait,” Ultra stated.
Rare Trait offers an array of rare items that anybody could ask for. Outsiders looking into Ultra’s store will notice a different vibe from other business around Grambling, as though they are in the mall of a bigger city.
Rare Trait always has music playing and a couple of videos that plays on the big screen behind his counter. On the store walls, shirts are hung on rails from top to bottom, a glass case with special hates and jewelry and a variety of different types of shoes on shoe racks are pushed near the entrance door by a Michael Jordan poster near the counter.
Ultra sells shoes, jackets, caps and shirts all from different name brands like Nike, Starter, Supreme and many others.