Gizmo- Royal Oak Vinyl & Shirts

Post by **spzretent** » Mon Jun 14, 2010 4:02 pm

A friend of mine and I are opening a shop in the Royal Oak area of Detroit. Used/Vintage t shirts, new Detroit-centric and pop art-ish designs. We will also be selling vinyl. Stocking Not Not Fun stuff, Dom's Great Pop Supplement stuff and other records we like a lot. Also a new record label coming w/the first release being a vinyl issue of Spectrum meets Captain Memphis Indian Giver. Hopefully that will be out in a month or two.
No web site yet but there is a facebook page w/photos of our premature opening this past weekend.
for your perusal(or not)

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/gro ... 1767317552

Sim · Post by **Sim** » Tue Jun 15, 2010 11:19 pm

Good luck with the new venture spzretent!

Trust you'll be offering us overseas customers the chance to buy online?

Muscles · Post by **Muscles** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 5:39 am

WOW ! GREAT NEWS ! I MISS THE OLD SHOP!

MANY HAVE TRIED TO TOP YOU BUT NONE HAVE SUCCEEDED IN DETROIT !

AMOEBA RECORDS IS AMAZING HERE I MUST SAY !

BUT THEY ARE THE EXCEPTION !

I USED TO HANG OUT WITH THE OWNER OF OFF THE RECORD !

LOL ! AND DO BLOW WITH HIM ! HAHAHA !

BEFORE HE GOT BUSTED BOOTLEGGING LIVE BAND PERFORMANCES !

CONGRATS !

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Wed Jun 16, 2010 9:08 pm

Are you still getting copies of the new Spectrum 7" in, Alan?

Post by **spzretent** » Thu Jun 17, 2010 12:55 am

I have them. I just have no way to promote the site yet. No web site yet. We found our guy. He came in saturday, bought a bunch of stuff, and overheard us bitching about the local people who who have been trying to fleece us.
Soon.
Pm me if you want it asap.
Alan

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Mon Jun 21, 2010 12:52 am

Big thumbs up to Alan for shipping out my order within 24 hours of receiving payment. I appreciate quick order processing/shipping immensely. I ordered 2 Grails albums directly from Important Records on May 18th and still have not received them.

Muscles · Post by **Muscles** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 10:39 pm

Alan ! You and Peter eh ! He represented me when I had a DUI ! lol but the judge
and his father had some sort of problem ! She gave me 15 days in the can ! haha !
Sad. Tell him hello ! Shops looking good tho ! on Washington? looks like .

Have you got that MC vinyl? I wanna get that on itunes.

Muscles · Post by **Muscles** » Sun Jul 18, 2010 10:42 pm

And what's with the big shorts and brown shoes combo !
You look like you belong in PORTLAND !

Heres a picture of me and my ex McWife Jaime having a pint.

Post by **spzretent** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:31 am

Muscles wrote:And what's with the big shorts and brown shoes combo !
You look like you belong in PORTLAND !

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Its hot as hell here. Today was big shorts & flip flops. Visited Gusoline after work though. that was ace!

Muscles · Post by **Muscles** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 3:02 am

FLIP FLOPS !

HAHAHA !

Fucking ghetto white trash or HAWAIIAN !

SURELY you did not wear FLIP FLOPS into GUSOLINE ! lol !

so do you have that VINYL i was asking about ? 12 inch MC. with

"gemini" "everybodys bored" "kowalski" "monkey" "teen beatles"

i had boxes of them but they've gone missing !

i need one copy. or an MP3 if you have the technology !

"aint got time to make no apology...the one who searches and destroys !"

POP IGGY !_ XXX.

purespace · Post by **purespace** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 11:20 am

Alan, the shop looks fantastic! I'll be making a trip your way soon.

Post by **spzretent** » Mon Jul 19, 2010 2:31 pm

Something so karmically ridiculous happened saturday I have to share it here. Royal Oak was packed. We were really busy. At one point I decided to go outside and wipe down the windows and a guy walked up to me with a southern accent and asked where the nearest ATM was. I told him. He looked in the window and said "T Shirts huh? Got any Spacemen 3 or Spiritualized shirts?" I just looked at him and asked if he really asked that. He asked why. I told him they are my favorite band and that we have all sorts of used vinyl, cds etc. But we have no t shirts as I never worked anything out with Jason/Spazed to do so. He came in and spent $60 on vinyl. Mentioned his girlfriend was upset and he had to leave. 20 minutes later he came back and bought another $40 worth of vinyl and said to me "I just had to make sure I wasn't dreaming this". Which was funny.
Luckily for us we had bought a large collection of Spectrum, Spacemen, Spiritulaized, Verve and M Rev vinyl last week. And I priced well below the online prices people are trying to get.

burningwheel · Post by **burningwheel** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 12:06 am

Good Luck Alan, the b&m retail bug hit again huh?

Muscles · Post by **Muscles** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 1:26 am

yeah that's it.
may wanna put it up online.
at some point.
can you rip it?
do you have the technology?
gladly send you a tenner for a pint.
if you can do it!

Muscles · Post by **Muscles** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 2:21 am

yes.
well do you have one that you can spare then?
i will send you a tenner for it.
is that fair?
there are people selling pictures on ebay.
i find people on facebook.
in the shoegaze section...
who ask me for stuff.
so may be a nice treat
for 1 or 2 people !
lol.
i may put sans muscles
online too. you have that one?
if not i can burn it and send it back.
just nice that all this stuff is digitized and online
for someone if they want it.
ya know...

Muscles · Post by **Muscles** » Tue Jul 20, 2010 3:13 am

I'll mail you a check tommorrow.
If yer frugal $10 can get you 4 PBR'S at MAGIC STICK !
Haha.
Cheers.

Muscles · Post by **Muscles** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 2:46 am

Spz did you get my check?

I sent enough for 8 pints PABST for you and Peter.

James T · Post by **James T** » Fri Jul 30, 2010 11:54 pm

Good luck with the store!

Whoever mention important records, yes, they are utterly useless. They are very very cheap, but I waited 2 months for some t-shirts. Emailed them and they said they forgot to send them Full marks for honesty...

Post by **spzretent** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 10:57 pm

First visit from a message board member today. Purespace gave his c card a workout here at Gizmo!
What a pleasure it was serving him.
Hope he enjoys the load of vinyl and cds he he left here with!

purespace · Post by **purespace** » Sat Aug 07, 2010 11:33 pm

With the selections you have, my paycheck will be direct deposited at Gizmo

A seriously great job with the store and the best reason I can think of to drop down south more often. Will definitely be back very soon

Post by **spzretent** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 12:37 am

That makes me feel good about the decision to open up the shop. Its nice to feel appreciated. And business continues to get stronger and stronger.

purespace · Post by **purespace** » Sun Aug 08, 2010 1:31 am

If you find yourself within 500 miles of Royal Oak, Michigan, do yourself a favor and drop by Gizmo. My first visit scored:
Spiritualized - Royal Albert Hall (vinyl

)
Spiritualized - Let It Flow (Black Box Set of 3

)
Bardo Pond - Peri (vinyl + cd, the album cover alone is amazing)
Wooden Shjips - Vol. 1 (vinyl)
Wooden Shjips - Vol. 2 (vinyl)
Dean & Britta - I'll Keep it With Me/It Don't Rain in Beverly Hills - 7" (thanks Alan!)
Dean & Britta - 13 Most Beautiful Songs for Andy Warhol's Screen Tests - 2 cd set (Alan had it playing and naturally I was seduced

)
Big Brother and the Holding Company - Cheap Thrills (vinyl, can't live without Janis

)

Lots of other Spz/Spacemen 3 items if you're curious. I would have walked off with so much more if the f'ing parking meter hadn't been expiring 7 blocks away. This is my kind of store and why I will be back. Well done

redcloud · Post by **redcloud** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 6:32 pm

I'm proud to say that I am one of the few out there who does not have a facebook nor myspace account. So, I can't go past the front page of the Gizmo account. Let me know when the official website is up though because I like what I read.

Bro, your place could be a shrine to all things Motor City and Michigan both past and present. Soul, Mitch Ryder, Bob Seger, MC5, Iggy, The Up, Amboys & Nugent, Sinclair, Grimshaw and other Michigan ballroom poster artists from yesterday and today, D. Cobras, W. Stripes, Von Bondies etc.. Plus you could have monthly rotating exhibits of upcoming young Detroit visual artists. Host an open evening for the art exhibit in the shop and chances are high that people will also buy some inventory plus you could work out a percentage deal on the sales of work from artists you exhibit. How fucking cool would that be?

Sorry, my mind is racing.

Post by **spzretent** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:28 pm

In theory that sounds great. But no one that lives in this city has ever been able to put anything like that together. I am aiming for somewhat loftier goals. We are forging relationships with the likes of Dean & Britta, The Aliens, Dom Eraworm, Beehive Record Company(local), Brian Cannon from Micrrodot(for limited ed t shirts) and hopefully Spiritualized. I am finding ways to track down new records that are selling at exhorbitant prices online at much more reasonable prices. Like some Can & Neu titles, Desert Sessions 1-6 2xLp, Those MBV alternate titles, Slowdive Souvlaki. Its pretty overwhelming building up the record section. And costly.
I am also discussing w/Will about bringing Natty's exhibit to Detroit. That would be incredible and i am quite sure it would be a huge success here.
I tried working out something with Third Man and was quickly shot down. So I will just concentrate on things we like and it makes it much easier to sell.

redcloud · Post by **redcloud** » Wed Aug 18, 2010 9:36 pm

Ha, ha...that's probably why I don't work in nor run a business. My mind of what "could be" and what I would like to see often gets in the way of my practical side.

Your plans still sound excellent to me. Best of luck to you, man.

TheWarmth · Post by **TheWarmth** » Thu Aug 19, 2010 2:26 pm

Man, bummer that Third Man wouldn't work with you. I'm surprised.

Laz69 · Post by **Laz69** » Mon Aug 23, 2010 11:12 pm

Couple of things reminded me of your store today... first up i see The Wooden Shjips or Moon Duo (can't recall which) are looking for a venue to play a show in Detroit in September i think... possible in-store? you got room?

Secondly, just got hold of a movie called "I Need That record". A documentary charting the fall of the Independant Record stores of days gone by. Thurston Moore and Ian McKay feature apparently. might be of interest to a few around here.

Post by **spzretent** » Tue Aug 24, 2010 1:43 am

I haven't seen that one. There was another released in time for Record Store day. I know all too well how importtant record shops used to/can be. Its is the center of some folks lives. Fortunately we sell mostly t shirts and the mark up is much better. But my business partner and I both love music and want to push our own agenda.
I have contacted Wooden Shjips/Moon Duo to see what they require. I'd love to do it but our shop is 500 square feet. i do know some venues. So hopefully they will contact me.

Laz69 · Post by **Laz69** » Tue Aug 24, 2010 11:32 pm

Just watched the documentary i mentioned above. Quite emotional viewing if truth be told. Charts the rise of corporate music whores and their attempts to dictate our musical availability and how dreams, communities and music itself is suffering as a result. The scene with one guy dismantling his vinyl racks after 10 years is pretty heavy watching.

Post by **spzretent** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 3:50 pm

I just finished a 4 day music, food and art festival that took place right smack in the middle of the city my shop is in. The only thing close to this was being asked to do the record shop out by Lollapaloooza's 2nd stage in 1993. But this weekend 482,000 people paid to get in over 4 days.
Three very memorable things happened:
1. We ended last night by having a 20 year old guy come in ask who Spiritualized are. He asked me to play my favorite song. We blasted Shine A Light(LGM version) really loud and he just closed his eyes and when it was over he said "I get it." I gave him the cd and told him we are his new record shop.
2. A woman came up to me at the counter on Saturday and asked if we had any Christian t shirts. I replied no. To which she yelled "SINNER!". I just laughed which pissed her off even more.
3. Our landlord came in and mentioned she brought her 97 year old father, who owns our building, in earlier in the week, She wheeled him around the shop and told us he was beaming with pride w/what we had done. He was so happy.

And we did massive amounts of business and we couldn't have asked for anything more to increase our profile.
All in all an incredible weekend.

Laz69 · Post by **Laz69** » Tue Sep 07, 2010 4:05 pm

Great stuff. Sounds like just the mental and financial boost you were looking for to get things going!

Post by **spzretent** » Sun Sep 12, 2010 3:47 pm

This from an article in todays Detroit Free Press

Most of the shirts are wrapped and displayed like record albums.
And speaking of records, Gizmo stocks a small selection of indie vinyl -- chosen by owners Alan Kovan and Peter Woll, who identify themselves as music snobs. The store is especially faithful to the English space rock band Spiritualized, though I will admit it was the $4 Bay City Rollers album that caught my attention.

Read more: Georgea Kovanis: Vintage items stand out at Gizmo and Green Daffodil | freep.com | Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20100912/C ... z0zKJXMKz3

Post by **BzaInSpace** » Mon Sep 13, 2010 12:00 pm

spzretent wrote: ...$4 Bay City Rollers album...

Bargain!

Post by **spzretent** » Sat Nov 20, 2010 6:10 pm

Check out this priceless 1:36 of airtime on local TV. Amazing advertising right before the holiday season starts!
http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/enterta ... -royal-oak
It starts at the 1:00 mark.

Muscles · Post by **Muscles** » Sun Nov 21, 2010 6:06 pm

Ya can't buy that kinda advertising !
But why do they not start the Christmas parade in Highland Park
or East Detroit ! HAHAHA !
i wanna see what really goes on in Detroit like FIRES & CAR JACKINGS !
let's see SANTA get robbed !
more reality !

Post by **spzretent** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 2:26 am

In the infamous words of George Harrison....

All Things Must Pass...

We are closing down Gizmo at the end of January. We tried. We thought we could be an alternative to buying online. But that is where we are headed. The internet.
New-ish web site coming. Much more user friendly. I will continue doing the vintage shirt thing on my own web site as well as vinyl, posters, sports memorabilia, breweriana etc.

Looking forward to having a lot more free time.

Just thought i'd let you guys know.

A

redcloud · Post by **redcloud** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 2:44 am

I'm saddened to hear this Alan. While watching Michigan State's bowl game on Jan. 2 I was talking about you to some friends and told them about Gizmo. All said it sounded like just the type of shop Portland needs!

Royal Oak's loss may be the wider world's gain, however, as the advantages of going completely online will be that you can specifically target a much larger audience.

Post by **spzretent** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 4:10 am

I was offered it for nothing. Problem is it costs over $3000 a month just to keep the doors open. And January thru April is not really t shirt weather in Michigan. So doing some quick math I passed on the opportunity. I figure by the time sales picked up i'd be out over $10,000. I dont have that kind of money to gamble with.
C'est La Vie. Better to have tried than not.
I can now devote a lot more time to hopefully exporting Michigan beer to the North of England.

Post by **runcible** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 9:02 am

spzretent wrote:I was offered it for nothing. Problem is it costs over $3000 a month just to keep the doors open. And January thru April is not really t shirt weather in Michigan. So doing some quick math I passed on the opportunity. I figure by the time sales picked up i'd be out over $10,000. I dont have that kind of money to gamble with.
C'est La Vie. Better to have tried than not.
I can now devote a lot more time to hopefully exporting Michigan beer to the North of England.

Always sad when a retailer selling music closes its doors so my commiserations. The beer thing continues to be exciting though - all fingers crossed on that one!

Laz69 · Post by **Laz69** » Thu Jan 05, 2012 1:00 pm

Really sorry to hear this, but very best wishes with the rest of your endeavours!