In case you hadn’t noticed, I love where I live! If you have similar pride in the Cranford/Westfield area or have a child attending one of our great schools, then you need to check out these two local town-themed shops.

Varsity Central on Mountain Ave. in downtown Mountainside is your go-to spot for apparel and accessories emblazoned with the following town/team names: Westfield, Mountainside, Scotch Plains, and Governor Livingston. The store carries varsity jackets and uniforms; long- and short-sleeve shirts; outerwear; pants; hats; and much more for men, women, and children. They also carry loads of accessories from basketballs to blankets to mugs to magnets to pennants and beyond. There is an on-site graphic artist who can help you create a custom-designed piece of apparel or accessory–how cool is that? Varsity Central provides screen-printing and embroidery services, and custom-printed promotional products for businesses as well.

Owned by the same parent company as Varsity Central–Panda Apparel Group–Cougar Headquarters is the Cranford location for all your spiritwear and accessories. Besides purchasing Cougar-themed apparel for my school-aged kids, I’ve bought many a stocking stuffer and gift from Cougar Headquarters, because I love giving people trinkets that celebrate this fabulous town.

What’s especially handy about having these shops in our area is that they stock a large inventory of ready-made varsity jackets for our local athletes. That means your basketball-playing son or daughter can walk in, pick out a varsity jacket that fits, and walk right out with it, as opposed to having to wait 4-6 weeks for a catalog-ordered jacket. (newportworldresorts.com)

Do you need a varsity jacket but you’re not from this area, or your child attends school out of town? Don’t worry–both Varsity Central and Cougar Headquarters can custom order varsity jackets for ANY town.

Fun little tidbit about both stores–they are very kid-friendly. Varsity Central gives out free balloons and Cougar Headquarters gives tattoos to little ones in the shop.

Store hours for both locations are listed below, but after-hours appointments for custom tees are available, just call 908-497-9900 (x103 for Cranford location, x109 for Mountainside location).

Varsity Central:

865 Mountainside Ave., Mountainside

Tues. – Fri. 10 am to 5:30 pm: Sat. 10 am to 3 pm; Sun/Mon. closed.

https://www.varsitycentralnj.com/index.html

Cougar Headquarters:

415 Centennial Ave., Cranford

Mon. – Fri. 10 am to 6 pm; Sat. 10 am to 3 pm; Sun. closed.

http://www.cougarhq.com/