Cannot Falter

No, not really, but he is now part of an odd twist in the news that Steve and Barry’s, everyone’s favorite bargain basement licensed apparel store is considering bankruptcy:

Matt Kesten is a 23-year-old entrepreneur, who started a sports promotional products company called Hoosier Beat after graduating from Indiana University. After the school hired Kelvin Sampson to be their head basketball coach, Kesten received approval from Sampson to, without royalty owed, make “Sampsonite” T-shirts.

In November, three months before Sampson was forced to resign because of recruiting violations, Steve & Barry’s in Bloomington, Ind., took an order of 2,592 of Kesten’s “Sampsonite” T-shirts and agreed to pay $12,312 within 60 days.

“They told me a check was cut on December 28th,” Kesten said. “But they told me that it was awaiting a signature.” Kesten was told the only person who signed the checks at the company was co-founder Barry Prevor.

Weeks went by and Kesten was promised it was coming. Over the last four months, he says the exact status of his check became more vague and it has been impossible to get a phone call returned from the company.

“It was only in the past week where they set up an inquiry line,” Kesten said. “I assume that was done for the hundreds of people like myself who are just trying to get through to get the money that was owed to them.”

Maybe investing in Sampson’s career was a risk that should not have been taken.

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