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UPDATE: This story was updated at 6:16 p.m. EST on Monday, Feb. 23, 2026.
There’s that old saying: “One person’s trash is another person’s treasure.” For David Haas and Kelly Hall, screen prints are their treasure — a warehouse full.
Haas and Hall are co-owners of SaltTee Collections, an online clothing store that sells apparel donning logos of vintage Syracuse businesses and landmarks, from the Carousel Center (now Destiny USA) to Clark’s Ale House.
“People yearn for the past, and this is a direct tie to it, with local companies and establishments,” Haas said. “A lot of us used to either go (to these places), had jobs there, our families worked there, so it’s just a lot of good memories.”
SaltTee opened in July 2025, but the idea was drawn up years before. Hall, a full-time realtor, gave Haas a tour of a “meek” warehouse on West Fayette Street in April 2022. The warehouse had been previously owned by Wards Printing since the 1950s, before they switched locations.
Haas, who runs @syracusehistory on TikTok and Instagram, saw the location was up for sale and wanted to feature it as a video for his account. Audiences loved the warehouse, which featured decades worth of screen prints that Wards saved, Hall said.
“I was interested, and so I was guessing my audience would (also want) see this building,” Haas said. “But then when I got there, the magnitude of screens in there was just overwhelming, in a good way. This is gold.”
When David Haas visited a warehouse on West Fayette Street in 2022, he noted the number of screen prints left behind. Haas, along with Kelly Hall, decided to turn the screen prints into an opportunity to start SaltTee Collections. Courtesy of David Haas
The post performed well on Haas’ account. When the listing agent told Hall the prints would be thrown out, Hall and Haas decided to make use of them, thus creating SaltTee Collections, Hall said.
The business partners hosted an open house in November 2022. Customers bought clothing and some of the physical screen prints leftover from Wards. That was when they knew the business idea could work, Hall said.
“This community and ecosystem of Syracuse enthusiasts really wanted to wear the Syracuse history, we saw the ability to create that, and just bring smiles to people,” Hall said.
SaltTee officially opened last July, partnering with Wards. Wards still owns the screen prints, which is now located in East Syracuse. SaltTee operates out of their new location and acts as the “vehicle” for selling specific products, Haas said.
SaltTee’s third clothing drop was released at the beginning of February, including callbacks to landmarks like Rosie’s Sports Pub & Grill, DeJulio’s Army and Navy Store and the Sweetheart Corner sign.
The sign, which still stands at the intersection of East Taft Road and Route 11, advertised the locally owned Sweetheart Market from the 1950s until its closing in 2003. Hall said it’s nostalgic for the Syracuse community. Customers often write in requesting specific logos for apparel, including the Sweetheart Corner sign, Hall said.
“I had two people reach out to me and say their parents met there,” Hall said. “Their parents met there, and they got married. So, it’s really sweet to have that, and they bought the sweatshirt for their parents.”
SaltTee customer Brittany Gawarecki said the merchandise is “very comfortable,” and that the emblem on her Fay’s Drugs sweatshirt hasn’t peeled at all. The regional drugstore — where 16-year-old Hall had her first job — was featured in SaltTee’s original clothing drop.
It’s not just people currently living in Syracuse that love these products, Gawarecki said. She works at a local car dealership and said one of their vendors noticed her Fay’s Drugs sweatshirt. Then, he bought one for his sister, who now lives in Florida but used to work at the drugstore.
Gawarecki said she loves the nostalgia that SaltTee brings.
“It’s got a sweet spot in my heart for the older locations that might not be open anymore, and it’s nice to wear the shirts,” Gawarecki said.
When she wore her sweatshirt to the IKEA at Destiny USA, she said people stopped her, complimenting the SaltTee merchandise and telling her old stories about Fay’s Drugs, Gawarecki said.
Apart from Syracuse’s nickname — Salt City — Hall said SaltTee reminds her of the phrase “salt of the earth.” As a small business, SaltTee is shining a light on other local businesses, even if those businesses aren’t around anymore, Hall said. Hall called the project a “full-circle moment.” Their merchandise are “wearable pieces of art,” she said.
Though SaltTee primarily sells their clothing online, Haas and Hall, who both work full-time jobs, want to take advantage of pop-up shop opportunities with in-person vendors to “get more eyes.”
“It’s been so well received so far, and we’re only scratching the surface,” Hall said.
Correction: A previous version of this article said that both Kelly Hall and David Haas were born and raised in Syracuse. Hall was not born in Syracuse. The Daily Orange regrets this error.
Video courtesy of David Haas
Published on February 19, 2026 at 1:08 am