Written By: Nicole Kist and Alyssa Morgan
Record City and Clothing
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Tucked in-between the clothing store K-Momo’s and Peter Piper Pizza in the South Plaza on Central and Southern lies a small family run business called Record City and Clothing. As we enter the store my classmate and myself are greeted by two loud beeps that startle us, but it's there to let the owner know someone’s walked in or out. Inside we saw hundreds of t-shirts. On each t-shirt is a unique design…designs we had never seen before. Most of the t-shirt messages were written in Spanish. Each t-shirt depicted a scene that seemed to represent the persona of South Phoenix. One of our favorites featured a glass of Bud Light and read “Esta Bud Es Para Ti” which means, of course, “This Buds For You”. The walls were lined with t-shirts, which displayed common alcohol logos, low riders, gangsters throwing their signs, weapons, and other items generally associated with “ghettos” and barrios and perhaps South Phoenix.
As we are looking at the array of interesting t-shirts and things a man behind that counter begins talking to us. We ask him if we can take some pictures of the artistic t-shirts that we see. He seems flattered and is interested in what we are documenting. We find out that his name is Frank. Frank tells us that his brother-in-law and sister own the store. The shop has been family owned and operated for years. The family even goes to conventions and t-shirt fairs every year to get together with hundreds of other t-shirt artists to keep up with the latest screening and painting techniques. They also sell their individual t-shirt designs to the public. We tell Frank that we are making a web page and ask if he would be interested in us featuring Record City and Clothing on it. He enthusiastically agrees and wants to know more about our class. We promise to visit him next week and give him the web address so he can see “his” store online. If you are ever in the neighborhood we suggest that you stop by and checkout Record City and Clothing. If you see Frank, tell him Alyssa and Nicole said “HI”!
See a Pictures of Record City and Clothing