It’s every retail employee’s favorite time of year….the big Holiday season.  Whether customers are shopping for Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or just for kicks…they are shopping.  And quite a bit.  To make sure everyone can get quality time with their favorite Akron t-shirt shop, we’ve decided to extend our store hours (take note, we’re not usually open on Sundays).  Plus, as an added bonus, you can visit us at Summit Mall in Fairlawn.

Here are our extended hours on North High Street:

Friday, November 28th: 9am-8pm

Saturday, November 29th: 10am-7pm

Sunday, November 30th- Wednesday, December 3rd: 11am-6pm (regular hours)

Thursday, December 4th: 10am-7pm

Friday, December 5th- Saturday, December 6th: 10am-8pm

Sunday, December 7th- Wednesday, December 10th: 11am-6pm (regular hours)

Thursday, December 11th: 10am-7pm

Friday, December 12th: 10am-8pm

Saturday, December 13th: 10am-11pm

(We’re having a really awesome holiday party with our neighbors, We Gallery.  Join the fun and get 10% off your purchases.)

Sunday, December 14th: 11am-6pm

Monday, December 15th-Wednesday, December 17th: 10am-7pm

Thursday, December 18th: 10am-6pm (closing earlier because we will be at an event at the Akron Art Museum)

Friday, December 19th-Saturday, December 20th: 9am-8pm

Sunday, December 21st: 10am-7pm

Monday, December 22nd-Tuesday, December 23rd: 9am-8pm

Wednesday, December 24th: 9am-3pm

Thursday, December 25th: CLOSED

Friday, December 26th: Back to regular hours, 11am-6pm

For information on our Summit Mall kiosk’s hours, please click here.

Norman Rockwell's Freedom From Want- part of his series of The Four Freedoms.

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Rubber City Clothing.

No “Black Friday” madness with us- come in Friday for a calmer holiday shopping experience.  We’ll be open from 9a-8p.  Sorry, much like the mall, the parking is still going to suck.  Happy Shopping!

Congratulations to one of our local music/swag partners, Winslow for being named Cleveland’s Best Local Band by Fox 8’s Hot List.  You guys totally deserve it!  Soon we’ll be saying, “We knew them when……”

Pick up Winslow’s album, Crazy Kind of Love here at Rubber City Clothing.  We’ve also got cool Winslow t-shirts (now in sizes small and medium), stickers, posters, and pins.

As we mentioned a couple of weeks ago, your favorite Akron store is now carrying some of your favorite Akron music.  The latest addition to the RCC music family is Winslow, a soul/rock band based out of Kent/Akron/Cleveland.  If you haven’t heard them yet, you NEED to check them out NOW!  These guys are amazing and probably won’t stay local for long.  This six-piece band is great live.  The lead singer, Maurice Martin even wears RCC for their shows from time to time.

A truly unique blend of soul, rock, jazz, and blues, Winslow’s first album Crazy Kind of Love has created quite a buzz with radio, tv, and magazines all over Northeast Ohio.  You can now get it here at Akron’s favorite t-shirt/ Rubber love store; along with Winslow t-shirts, posters, stickers, and pins.  Right now only the album is available at RubberCityClothing.com, but as soon as we get more shirts, posters, etc. we’ll get those up on the site too.  Until then, come down to our humble little store on High St to get your Winslow merch-fix.

Check Winslow out online at www.winslowsoul.com. or www.myspace.com/winslowsoul.They’ve got some local shows coming up that you should definitely check out.

Thanks to everyone for their patience these last few days with the remodeling going on at Rubber City Clothing.  Sorry that it extended into Wednesday, but the extra day was much needed.  We’re just about done, with fresh paint, new fixtures, and some more sales space.  It’s working out so much better than we originally planned.

The store is really coming together, with special thanks to Karen & Wendy from We Gallery next door.  They have done an AMAZING job of creating, building, and installing a lot of the new fixtures in the store.  We’d also like to thank Beth from the Akron Art Museum, for helping us out with her stellar painting skills.  These girls are truly awesome.  We’re open back up now, with a few more little changes to come.  All should be complete by Monday, so come in and check out our revamped space!

Our new holiday line should be coming in soon- about 2 weeks.  We’ve got some really cool new designs, plus some new colors of some of your favorite RCC classics.  We’re also getting some replenishment of some things we’ve been out of stock in, like the Li’l Slugger t-shirt and hoodie, the “330″ hoodie, and our Route 8 line.  We are taking pre-orders on some items, so if there’s something you know you want, give Sarah G a call at the store- 330.434.4722 and let her know.

The Rubber City Clothing store will be closed this Monday & Tuesday, November 17 &18 for some much-needed in-store renovations.  We apologize for any inconvenience.  These renovations are going to make your shopping experience a bit more enjoyable & will help make room for NEW products to be out soon.

ABSOLUTELY have to get your RCC fix in?  Visit our website, www.RubberCityClothing.com.  Free shipping on orders over $60.

Today begins the Akron Art Museum’s annual Gallery Hop.  It’s a great way to find some great holiday gifts and support the arts in Akron.  A real two-fer (and you know we love those!).  Present your Art Museum membership card and get 10% off your purchases today, November 13 through Saturday, November 15.

Don’t have a membership?  Click here or visit the museum at One South High St at East Market in historic Downtown Akron.

Here are some of the participating galleries & shops:

Akron Glass Works

Akrona Galleries

Black Squirrel Gallery

Don Drumm Studios and Gallery

Harris-Stanton Gallery

Hudson Fine Art & Framing Co.

The Market Path

McKay Bricker Gallery & Framing

Peninsula Art Academy Gallery

Rubber City Clothing

Studio Arts & Glass

Tomorrow’s Treasures Picture Framing & Gallery

We Gallery (right next to RCC)

Check out the Gallery Hop 2008 info online for information on extended hours at each location.

Okay, this has absolutely nothing to do with RCC, it just happens to be really cool.

The Smashing Pumpkins

Anyone who knows me knows that The Smashing Pumpkins are my FAVORITE band of all-time.  Not to put my age out there (a lady never does), but I have been in love with their music for the last 13 years, ever since I heard Bullet with Butterfly Wings off of their hugely successful double album, Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness.  I’ve seen the band live 5 times, plus seen Billy Corgan numerous times as part of side/solo projects.  About a month or so ago, I found out as part of their 20th Anniversary Tour, SP would be coming to Cleveland.  It would be all too perfect if they could come to lovely li’l Akron (but cake cannot be had and eaten too).  Without going into too much detail, I got a 5 Star VIP pass (thanks to the fine folks at I LOVE ALL-ACCESS) to….MEET the band & sit very close to the stage.  I also got some tickets for friends to join me for what could be the greatest show any of us would ever see.

This past Saturday, November 1st was the day of the big show.  I went to the Palace Theater in Cleveland to meet the band that has most influenced my life.  There were about 40 of us who checked in with the ILAA crew.  We were then ushered into the theater to watch the band do their sound check.  It was wonderful & intimate, like a private show.  Afterwards, we lined up for photos & autographs with Billy Corgan & Jimmy Chamberlain (the only two original members of the band).  I was very nervous and had no idea what to even say to these two musicians whose music has meant so much to me.  So, I just smiled politely and gave the generic “Hello, how are you?” (I’m not worthwhile in these situations).  I got my pic (thought the one taken with my parents camera was too bright and the boys look angry…I’m hoping the ILAA pic turns out better), got my VIP pass autographed, and Billy said he liked my shoes.  Wasn’t quite the love at first sight with Mr. Corgan I hoped it to be, but all in all it was amazing to meet him & Jimmy.

Right...In...Front...Of...Me!

Next the VIP crew had a little party before the show, and I met a couple of guys from Pittsburgh and Youngstown.  The guy from Youngstown, Chris, is the drummer for the band Wesker.  They occasionally play at Musica here in Akron…check them out, pretty cool.  Afterwards was an almost 3 HOUR set by the Pumpkins, for which I was front and center for!  They played a lot of my favorites, BWBW, Today, Glass, as well as some new experimental stuff.  The encore consisted of a 9-piece kazoo sing-along, which the audience loved and laughed along with.  It was the greatest show experience of my life.  Thank you SP for 20 Years of Sadness.

It’s been kind of a crazy busy week for us here at RCC.  A little more play than work (which has been MUCH needed).  Plus, with the election and all, we’ve been a bit preoccupied.  If you recall last week, we talked about going to Thursday’s Halloween bash.  It was sooooooo much fun.  We actually started the night down at The Barley House (where only the bartenders were in the Halloween spirit) then headed over to Thursday’s as the night went on.  We DID NOT win the costume contest, but everyone cheered us on as Juno & Bleeker.  All and all, it was an awesome Akron time, as Thursday’s always is.  Here are some pics from our Halloween fun:

Here's my roommate and I as Juno and Bleeker down at the Barley House. People actually thought I was pregnant....and drinking.

Orange Tic-Tacs give that nice, tangy taste.

Rick "Wild Thing" Vaughn from Major League & a spunky pregnant teen.

Bleeker's getting some good stretches in. Gotta stretch those creamy hamstrings.

Bleeker & a FAKE belly.

The Green Guy (apparently from It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia) won the costume contest, but you know who REALLY was best.

We weren't sure if someone spilled a drink, or if my water broke.

GET OUT AND VOTE!

Then come into Rubber City Clothing and get 10% off when you flash your “I Voted” sticker.