Highland Square

You see that above?  That’s what it looked like when I looked out my window this morning!  Nothing but white.  Mother Nature just won’t let up.  Doesn’t she realize that we live in NE Ohio?  It’s bad enough we can’t get a sports team to win, but do we really need to be hit heavily with snow seemingly till Memorial Day?  C’mon, give us a break.

According to all of the local sources, this mess is supposed to last through the weekend.  Oh joy!  But fear not, both Rubber City Clothing locations will be open Friday & Saturday.  The nice thing about downtown is that it gets shoveled much quicker than the rest of the city.  Highland Square…. not so much, so I (Sarah) get a nice work out shoveling the sidewalk in front of the store, the Highland Square Barbershop, and try to get a little path to the parking lot.  So, as long as it is safe for you to come out, avoid cabin fever & do some local shopping.  Hell, we’ll even take “just-browsers”.  Come see us!

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.

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 past Saturday was Meet the Artists day at Made in Akron in Highland Square.  It was a really amazing day of really talented artists, devoted Akronites, and a lot of local pride.  Over twenty artists set up booths to showcase their unique pieces and meet their fans & people interested in what they’re doing.  There was a really great turn out, a few hundred people passed through the doors of the little shop on South Highland Ave.  Here are some pics from the day:

Urban Kanvas Artist Jason Scala and local artist Dan Turner

10x Your City- really cool t-shirts (possibly cooler than ours)

Tags by Judy Rickenbacher

Shiny Distractions by Mina Hosfeld

Akron's favorite song-girl, Rachel Roberts gave a special performance.

Our intern, Danielle, working on one of her crochet pieces.

Draglyttes!

Roza Haidet and her fantastic mustache necklaces & other handmade jewelry.

Beautiful resin jewelry with found pieces & bugs.

Russ' Art Drawers- unique handmade panties.

Todd V discussing his paintings with some fans.

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.

Today’s post is brought to you by Made in Akron, our sister-store, conveniently located in Highland Square.  I (Sarah) am keeping watch over MiA while Elizabeth (the MiA GM) takes a much-deserved day off to go see Mary Poppins up at Playhouse Square in Cleveland (I’ve heard it’s wonderful). 

While we are closely related, carry some of the same merchandise, and share one common goal (Akron pride), both stores are quite unique.  While I’ve spent the last year creating a gritty, industrial boutique vibe to RCC, MiA has a genuine local art & creative vibe.  Focusing more on local art and products (as opposed to the RCC focus on t-shirts/apparel, with a few local products mixed in), MiA has quite a diverse selection.  From the first step in the door to the last step you take before you slam into the back wall, there is local art covering the walls and showcased on the tables.  Each piece in this store was hand-selected as something great Made in Akron.  There are paintings & pictures with vibrant colors; sculptures made of glass and metal, intricate handmade jewelry and mosaics.  This art completely summarizes the name of the store: made in Akron.  Plus there is a huge variety of local general merchandise & nostalgia, like a Stan Hywet picture book or those classic Goodyear Blimp erasers (both also available at RCC).  Everyone in Akron should visit MiA & RCC.  Both are truly cool local stores (and I’m not just tooting our own horns- it is fact).

Next time you need a great unique gift, or want to send some Akron love to other lands, come to RCC or MiA!

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.

We would like to officially welcome Made In Akron to the Rubber City!  Made In Akron is a new locally owned/operated retail store in Highland Square featuring products MADE IN AKRON.  Located at 16 South Highland Ave (just off of West Market Street and  next to Mike, the Highland Square Barber), they feature such great Akron-based products as Rubber City Clothing t-shirts, DeViti’s sauce, Akron Peanut Shoppe nuts, Pearl Coffee Co, Crave’s signature sauces, Goodyear paraphenalia, and tons of local art and unique gifts!

Stop in and see Elizabeth 7 days/week from 11am-6pm to check out Akron’s coolest new store!  Their website will be up shortly.  In the meantime, become a fan on Facebook!

More details to come….in the meantime, become a fan on Facebook!