We are now four weeks into our sort-of new venture of Rubber City Clothing- Highland Square. Since April 2009, the store had been known as Made in Akron- a fine retail shop featuring an eclectic mix of local art, jewelery, clothing, food souvenirs, and just about anything and everything Akron. When we decided to change the name at the end of January, we were met with mixed emotions. On top of that, Elizabeth and Kelly- who had managed this store and kept its eclectic mix in great order- moved on to some bigger & better things in their lives- Kelly moved to the Steel City & is happily in love; and Elizabeth is busy promoting and running her new eatery, Urban Eats which just opened within Musica serving mouthwatering paninis and flatbread pizzas. Plus, we cut the winter hours down to Thursday-Saturday, 11am-7pm till Mother Nature stops beating us with snow. So many questions came pouring in: Are you closing? Are you getting rid of the art? Who will run it now? Well, the answers are No, no, and Sarah from downtown. We are here to stay in Highland Square- still promoting the hell out of Akron- just now with more clothing. We still have all of the jewelry, food, souvenirs, accessories, music, and most of the art- we’re going to take a more gallery approach and feature different artists for certain periods of time. We’ve got a great new layout that presents our favorite art, screen-printed t’s in a much better way. More sizes and colors available now too! If you haven’t been down to the revamped store on South Highland Ave, come check it out! We’re here Thur-Sat, 11am-7pm. You can always shop online- www.RubberCityClothing.com or www.MadeinAkron.com 24/7.
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One of the things that I miss about New York that doesn’t exist in Akron is “Street Meat”. Get your minds out of the gutters, kids…I’m talking hot dogs and other delicacies found at umbrella-ed stands with wheels. In NY, you have hot dogs, falafel, gyros, flavored ices, roasted nuts, and one of my favorites, kabobs. Here? You have to go inside to get food…. that is until last month when Davey’s Dog House came to the rescue. Parking his cart in Highland Square (really the only place to be), Davey serves dogs about 12 hours/day, from 11am-11pm. Pricing is $2/one dog, or 3/$5- a pretty great price. So far business has been great, they’ve sold out every single day. But now Davey would like to change city law that only allows street vendors outside of downtown to be open until 11pm. Click here to read about the issue in the ABJ. As a resident of Highland Square (and patron of its nightlife), I think hot dogs till 3am can only improve the area. Here’s hoping it passes. Until then, make sure you check out Davey & his great hot dogs daily before 11pm.
Highland Square has by far some of the best establishments in Akron. Great shops, great food, and even better bars. I love staying at Ray’s, Matinee, or Square until last call. Once the lights go on and it’s time to head home, I’m usually pretty hungry, but too tired/lazy to cook at home. The thought of driving all the way to Montrose to Steak & Shake or Taco Bell or to Arlington for IHOP or Denny’s is too much. Finally, late-nighters of Highland Square don’t have to face that dilemma anymore! Mr. Zub’s has arrived! Connected to Matinee (so you can enjoy both beer and sandwich) and open 16 out of 24 hours in the day, Mr. Zub’s is a fantastic & unique deli.
First off, it just looks cool. A stick of butter as the logo? Genius. The menu’s have a kitchy pop-art layout, and all the items listed look like old movie theater tickets. Kudos to Ohioboy Art & Design for the amazing look. Now….the food. Everything on the menu is named after a movie character. Wes Anderson and comedy classics like John Candy, Steve Martin, and Bill Murray seem to have heavy influence. The sandwich fixings aren’t just your usual ham and turkey. They’ve got corned beef, roast beef, Italian meats, tofu, hummus, lox, and even chicken shawarma. Instead of plain old cheese (they’ve got Swiss & provolone), Mr. Zub’s has a variety of cream cheese spreads including 4 Cheese, jalapeno, muffaletta, and more. Fries? Not here. They do it Napoleon Dynamite-style with some pretty wicked tater tots. Mr. Zubs is just AWESOME. So far, I’ve only had 2 sandwiches. The Margot Tenenbaum -of The Royal Tenenbaums- hummus with cucumber & radish on pita, added tots both on and on the side; and the Bender- from The Breakfast Club- fitting for a bacon, egg, and 4 Cheese CC on an egg bagel. Both were delicious. If you haven’t been to Mr. Zub’s yet, you need to get there.
This Saturday afternoon head over to Made in Akron in Highland Square for a unique art event! From 11am-3:30pm, you can meet some of the amazing artists that showcase their work at Made in Akron, our wonderful sister store. Artisans of jewelry, mosaics, paintings, screen-prints, photography, t-shirts, stencil art, and more will be on hand to show new pieces and discuss their artistic process.
This event is a great way to support local arts, local business, and meet some really cool Akronites. In case of rain, the event will take place Sunday, August 30th, same time.
For more information on this event, please call Elizabeth at Made in Akron, 330.535.4774.
No, I'm not moving there, but I do love this building!
Alright….maybe that wasn’t the best headline. To be clear, I (Sarah G) am officially moving to Highland Square; not Rubber City Clothing, which is comfortably and conveniently located downtown. But I had you for a minute there, right? I am very excited about this move and big step in my life. I will be moving in with my somewhat wonderful boyfriend, Vinnie and our terror of a puppy Kaiser. I love Highland Square, all the shops, eateries, bars, the people….it’s all great. Even though I spend a majority of my time outside of the store there now, it will nice to officially be a Highland Square resident and an official Akronite again.
I was born and raised in Akron…Ellet to be exact. I couldn’t wait to get out of this city once I finished school. As soon as I could, I jetted off to New York City. I had spent almost every moment since I was 12 dreaming of moving to New York. And boy did I live there. I resided in 4 out of 5 boroughs (not Staten Island…I’ve proudly never spent more than 90 seconds there) at one point or another. Sadly, my stint in Manhattan was the shortest. Maybe because I didn’t stay in one place long enough, (or maybe because I realized the huge loft in Soho or even a decently sized one bedroom in the Lower East Side would always be unattainable), but New York never really felt like home. After I moved into my first ‘real’ apartment in Astoria, Queens, I thought maybe things would change, but I only started to miss Ohio more. I missed my family, I missed Lawson’s dip and Swenson’s hamburgers (I even had a friend bring me one on a plane when she came to visit), I missed that good ol’ fashioned midwestern friendliness. I don’t know when or why, but I one day woke up and realized I wanted to go home. For good. Oz was lovely, and there was certainly a lot to see and do; but at the end of the day, I wanted to click my heels three times and be home.
So, in January 2008, I did come home. I found an apartment in Portage Lakes with a long-time friend, as well as a job at Scene Magazine up in Cleveland. I was home, but it wasn’t quite right. I spent most of my time in Cleveland, which wasn’t exactly what I planned when I moved back to the Akron area. Luckily I stumbled across a little t-shirt company downtown, and I was back to spending all of my time in Akron. I now had this great job promoting Akron, but it was always difficult to answer the “So where do you live in Akron?” question. “Well, I’m just outside in Portage Lakes.” That never seemed right, that I was working in Akron, promoting how great this city is, but I don’t live here. I can’t vote on City issues, work for the city (more on that later) or even make use of the City’s recycling service. Don’t get me wrong, my apartment in Portage Lakes is great & spacious, but it’s sort of out of the way. I want to be IN AKRON, and now I will be. I absolutely adore Highland Square- so many great people and places, and so close to downtown. Most importantly, I’ll be a real Akronite again.
More details to come….in the meantime, become a fan on Facebook!
Being that I used to work for Cleveland Scene Magazine, I always get excited to see the new issue come out each Wednesday. After a fairly slow afternoon in the store, I was sitting here in the RCC Cobra Command Center (sorry I get bored easily) when the bells jingled on the front door. I ran out and it was a fresh delivery of Scene Magazines. On the cover was a li’l bit of Akron- Derf’s new book Punk Rock & Trailer Parks. The cover story featured an excerpt from the book, which we’ve copied and pasted for your convenience. Click here if you want to check it out on Scene’s website. For more Scene/Akron love, check out the article on the DEVO/The Black Keys show this Friday at the Civic.
Published October 15th, 2008
Derf’s new graphic novel, Punk Rock & Trailer Parks, is set in Akron in 1979, when the Rust Belt city suddenly found itself on the cutting edge of the music scene. Derf has two appearances and book-signings coming up this weekend. From 6-8 p.m. Friday, October 17 (before the Devo concert), he’ll be at Square Records in Highland Square (824 W. Market St., Akron). For information call 330.375.9244. And from 7-9 p.m. Saturday, October 18, he’ll host a multi-media presentation at B-Side Liquor Lounge, below the Grog Shop (Coventry Road and Euclid Heights Boulevard) in Cleveland Heights. For information about that event, call sponsor Mac’s Backs at 216.321.2665.
Buy the book online at http://www.amazon.com/Punk-Rock-Trailer-Parks-Derf/dp/1593621353, or visit Derf’s Website: derfcity.com.
It was a time when the American Dream was caked in rust, hormones raged, music actually mattered and the one thing that meant more than any other was: ESCAPE!
PUNK ROCK & TRAILER PARKS, the long-awaited new graphic novel by comix creator Derf takes place in recession-ravaged Akron, Ohio, in 1980, at the peak of the Rubber City’s unlikely and lively punk rock scene, a pop culture phenomenon that spawned distinctive acts such as Devo, Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders and so many other groups that Melody Maker referred to Akron as “the new Liverpool.” The story follows the triumphs and travails of one colorful young man, Otto, who lives in the family-owned trailer park on the outskirts of the Rubber Capital. He backs into the punk counter-culture by chance and through talent, wit and sheer force of personality soon becomes a local star. Otto chases fame and love and has memorable encounters with punk luminaries such as the Clash’s Joe Strummer, Wendy O. Williams of the Plasmatics and rock scribe Lester Bangs.
PUNK ROCK & TRAILER PARKS conjures up the oppressive insanity of growing up in the Rustbelt, the day-to-day weirdness of the trailer parks tucked away therein, the magic allure of sex and the necessary comforts of friendship, the mystical power of the counter-culture to turn outcasts into heroes and, most of all, the transcendant power of music, specifically the punk rock of the late 1970’s which redefined, transported, and ultimately, perhaps, disappointed a generation. It’s a tale as gritty, raucous and bawdy as punk music itself.
PUNK ROCK & TRAILER PARKS is an evocative, hilarious, and ultimately poignant book that will appeal to anyone whose youthful dreams live on.
Derf Backderf is an award-winning cartoonist and comix creator. He is best known for his edgy weekly comic strip, THE CITY, which has appeared in alternative weekly papers nationwide since 1990. Derf was the recipient of a prestigious Robert F. Kennedy Award in 2006 and he is one of the featured creators in BEST AMERICAN CARTOONS: 2008 (Houghton-Miiflin). A book collection of the first 15 years of his strip was published as THE CITY: COLLECTED (SLG Publishing, 2005).
PUNK ROCK & TRAILER PARKS is Derf’s longest and most ambitious work to date, as well as his first fictional piece.
http://www.derfcity.com/crap/PRTP1.html
PDF review copies available on request.