Q&A: Seymore Green - The Man, The Store, The Empire

Roslindale Patch met up with Seymore Green, the owner of Seymore Green's located at 35 Poplar St., in Roslindale Village. Green talked about his name, his brands, and neighborhood pride.

Green, 42, lives in Hyde Park after living in West Roxbury for several years, and has one daughter currently attending Boston College.

Patch: What's your name?

Green: Seymore Green

Patch: And the name of the store?

Green: Seymore Green's. Seymore Green's the store, Seymore Green is the person. It just works. The man, the store - the empire.

Patch: How long has the store been at 35 Poplar Street? 

Green: Six years on April 1.

Patch: How has it changed?

Green: It’s changed mainly from selling cell phones to selling t-shirts and smoking devices. To say paraphernalia sounds so illegal. Cell phones – that was before the smart phone, you could sell someone a $59 phone and they were happy with it.

Patch: Looks like you customize t-shirts – what do people ask you to make?

Green: I specialize in my brand. It’s all under the Seymore Green brand. You could put things on jeans, t-shirts, or hoodies. I have a Cute and Curvy line for girls. Pretty Girl. And B.E.A.S.T., which stands for bringing every ability strength and talent. That is the acronym.

Patch: I see you have Roxbury and other neighborhood shirts, do you sell more of other Boston neighborhoods than Roslindale?

Green: There's 'Entering Rozzie,' 'Entering Hyde Park,' 'Entering Jamaica Plain'. I can sell the shirts to where it applies. I’m selling town or neighrborhood pride, which is never going to end. You’re never not going to be a part of the town where you’re from.

The Rozzie shirts sell well. 

Patch: You sell colorful glass pipes for smoking  - are they purchased from a local glass blower?

Green: No they are purchased from a wholesaler in New York.

Patch: Do you call it Roslindale Village or Roslindale Square? Rozzie or Roslindale?

Green: Rozzie Square. Just the abbreviation for Rozzie.

Patch: Talk about meeting Paul Pierce and giving him a hoodie?

Green: Paul Pierce has a (Seymore Green) hoodie. I met him the day after Thanksgiving. I had a connection from several years back and he works at the Garden. And at the right time (after a game) Pierce was kind enough to wait for the hoodie after seeing an image of it on a phone. I took a photo with him. It was very rewarding for me to have an NBA legend to wait for little old me to bring him a hoodie.

That’s the highlight so far. I’ll also be working with Karmaloop – I'm meeting with them about shirts.

People can also come in with their own designs, I do custom shirts as well as my own clothing line. 

Patch: How'd you get into design?

Green: It’s something I grew into. What happened is I used to go to another place and they used to do my designs. After three weeks I learned how to do it myself and cut out the middle man.