Ligonier Life Is Good shop owners like brand's positive message

In a small town with quaint shops, a choice of restaurants and multiple widely popular community events throughout the year, you could argue that life is good already.

And yet, for Ligonier, things might just have gotten yet another notch better with the addition of a Life Is Good branded-merchandise store.

Carrying casual sportswear with the brand’s signature upbeat images and slogans, the shop opened during October’s Fort Ligonier Days at 113 W. Main St. on the Diamond.

“It was perfect timing,” said Matt Brubaker of Windber, Somerset County, who owns the shop with his wife, Kristy. “We said, let’s open up on Fort Days, because that’s when the people will be coming in.”

The shelves are stocked with an array of cold-weather wear, including long-sleeved T-shirts and sweatshirts, along with accessories like hats, slippers and socks, mugs, luggage and bags and dog leashes.

“We like the quality and what the company stands for,” Brubaker said. “They’re really known for optimism and positive messaging. With the world right now and covid, it’s a good message for our customers.”

The Brubakers also own the adjacent O’Shea’s Ligonier Sweet Shop, where they had been selling select Life Is Good items for the past three years. They’re the fourth generation to own the Johnstown-based candy company.

“It’s a relatively new concept, the Life Is Good branded shops,” Brubaker said. “There’s not many of us out there, and they’re mostly focused in beach areas and tourist destinations.”

The newly renovated space formerly housed an antiques and jewelry shop.

On Oct. 20, Theresa Salancy made a quick, midday stop at the store, looking for a birthday gift for a co-worker.

“I wear it myself,” she said. “The quality is really good, it’s colorful and the message is happy, spontaneous and encouraging. On the down days, it’s good to remind ourselves of that.

“Having the candy store in the front just tops it off.”

Founded in 1994 in Boston, with a line of T-shirts featuring the company’s stick figure mascot, Jake, Life Is Good now sells about 900 different items in 14 categories through about 4,500 retail outlets in the United States and Canada.

In Pennsylvania, the Hudson News store in the Philadelphia International Airport carries the company’s merchandise.

There are 47 stand-alone Life Is Good stores, including the new Ligonier location, said Kay Pancheri, vice president of brand marketing. The next closest branded retail shop is in Stone Harbor, N.J., about 330 miles away.

Prospective shop owners go through an in-depth application and interview process. Life is Good also requires an up-front investment and a certain level of projected sales volume, Brubaker said.

The Brubakers carry a number of exclusive Ligonier-themed items not found anywhere else.

“They have a lot of beach-themed merchandise — sailboats and turtles — but this area is known for the mountains and the outdoors — and dogs. It’s a very dog-friendly company,” he said. “We have a tourist destination here, as well, but we don’t have millions of customers like some of those areas will.”

That means the Ligonier shop is a “test-and-learn” situation for both the Brubakers and the parent company, he noted.

“If it works well here, we may expand to Pittsburgh, looking forward,” he said.

In addition to the brand’s quality and positive message, Brubaker said he and his wife were drawn to the company’s charitable aspect.

“Ten percent of their profits go back into their kids’ foundation,” he said. “It wasn’t just about selling shirts.”

The Life Is Good Playmakers organization trains child care professionals and organizations in play-based practices designed to help children overcome traumas associated with poverty, violence and substance abuse.

Hours at the Ligonier shop are from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays. For information, visit lifeisgood.com.