If you’re reading this magazine, you’ve likely seen someone sporting apparel emblazoned with three numbers: 203. Thank siblings and Westport natives Tory and Roscoe Brown for starting the Connecticut-proud company because nothing like it existed before.
After receiving an invitation to a ‘Rep Your Hometown’ party at college, Tory realized she didn’t own anything that represented Connecticut. “I don’t identify with New York City so an ‘I heart NY’ t-shirt or Yankees hat didn’t work. I kept thinking ‘Why isn’t there any cool apparel to represent Connecticut?’” Her thought sparked an idea: “There is so much pride and culture in Connecticut and we didn’t have a way to represent it. We [Tory and Roscoe] thought, if we feel this way, others must too!”
In 2014, Tory and her brother, Roscoe, started The Two Oh Three as a passion project: if their parents and Westport social circle liked it, great, but they had no thoughts of it expanding beyond a few fun tees. However, the universe had different plans.
The Two Oh Three launched with a t-shirt and tank top which they passed out to family and friends. On a whim, Tory and Roscoe decided to buy space in the Popshop Market at the Fairfield Theatre Company. The siblings recalled, “We went in with low expectations, thinking if we can only just sell one or two things, that would be fine by us!” But they sold out. Fast! Tory and Roscoe received so many requests from customers that they set up a website and quickly grew a substantial local following (follow them on Instagram @TheTwoOhThree).
At this point, Tory was fresh out of college, working full time in NYC and Roscoe was finishing college at Syracuse University, all while running their budding business. “We got to a point where we knew we wanted to do this full time. We didn’t want to put our energy elsewhere because we wanted to give this everything we had.” Soon after, Tory and Roscoe were full-time business owners of The Two Oh Three.
Tory and Roscoe have the opposite of a sibling rivalry. Their synchronicity is evident when you meet them. “Luckily, since we’re brother and sister, we can be very direct with each other and not worry about hurt feelings. We know our strengths and weaknesses and trust each other implicitly; we’re able to easily divide and conquer.”
The company continues to grow rapidly. With two original shirts to over 60 items on their website, including towels, sweatshirts, and more, The Two Oh Three is sharing their state-wide pride. The Two Oh Three products sell in approximately 20 different retail stores in Fairfield County and beyond. TheTwoOhThree
A Day in the Life
7:30 a.m. - Wake up, work out, grab a strong coffee.
8:30 a.m. - Head to SoNo to pick up new product from our local print shop.
9:00 a.m. - Finish a bacon, egg & cheese from Village Bagel while printing online orders.
9:15 a.m. - Tasks @ 203 HQ (fulfill online orders and coordinate with wholesalers, pack for tonight’s event).
11:30 a.m. - Hit the B:hive co-working space for a daily, mid-morning catch-up to go over today’s agenda.
12:00 p.m. - Divide and Conquer:
Tory - Social media planning, customer service, organize upcoming event schedule, order 1000 koozies for Alive@5
Roscoe - Design e-mail blast, update site inventory, review online ad performance, create weekly finance summary
2:30 p.m. - Quick lunch.
3:00 p.m. - Product meeting! Brainstorm session for next season’s products.
4:00 p.m. - Last emails of the day. Check in on website then sign offline.
4:50 p.m. - Hop in the van and head to tonight’s event!
