My friend James owns the shop where Linette and I get all of our screen printing done. It’s here in Ypsi, and it’s called VG Kids. For years, they’ve been operating out of a cave beneath the old BioLife facility – the place where people used to line up in the mornings to sell their blood plasma for beer money. That’s still where they’ll do their production, but they just opened a place downtown, right across the street from Bombadil’s. Primarily, they’ll be running their customer service and business operations from the new space, but, in addition to that, they’ll also be doing a little retail. If you get a chance, go in, check the place out, and wish James and the crew good luck. Or, better yet, buy a t-shirt for a friend… Actually, if you wait a day or two, they’ll have some of our stuff out on their racks, like our “Iggy Pop is from Ypsilanti” shirts, “Ypsipanties,” and all of the “Buy Indie in Ypsi” stuff. So, if you don’t want to wait until the Shadow Art Fair to buy stuff from Linette and me in person, now you have an alternative.
I’m not just saying this because James is my friend, but this is exactly the kind of thing that Ypsi needs downtown. We need young entrepreneurs with big ideas providing goods and services that can’t be gotten anywhere else. I was at the shop this evening and it’s inspirational. The building’s owner, James, and the entire VG crew are to be commended… It’s nice to be reminded, amid all this negative stuff I rant about here every day, that, beneath it all, Ypsi is still the kind of place where visionaries, for whatever reason, find their inspiration. Sure, the looming bankruptcy sucks, but it can’t take away the fact that this is the place where Iggy Pop, Preston Tucker, Winsor McKay, Elijah McCoy – and now VG Kids – got their start.
There’s a grand opening scheduled for Saturday, June 2, from 10:00 AM to 10:00 PM, and I’m told that you’re all invited.
6 Comments
I love it! I can’t wait to stop in there on my way back from filming – I just got a bunch got a bunch of stickers from them. And I’m waiting to order t-shirts from them… I just don’t have a design for them yet :(
Do they take Visa? I’m serious. I have something I’ve always wanted to put on a shirt and I’m willing to, at least, explore the possibility of doing this with them.
I realize this is a long shot, but do you know if they happen to sell smokey the bear t-shirts, preferably pre-ink-stained?
And, if it came with a book about a nazi-era german industrialist, that would be totally sweet.
I’d be willing to pay as much as a quarter.
Yes, they take Visa. Unfortunately, Kate, they don’t often do one-off jobs. I’m sure there are exceptions, but, with all the jobs that I’ve done with them, there’s been a minimum of 12 shirts in each size.
Will they still pay cash for blood (i.e., “organic” ink)?
Thanks, Mark. A minimum of 12 wouldn’t be hard, because these are something I want to give as gifts to family and special friends. Maybe I could even convince them it’s something to sell in their stores ;-)