T-Shirt Times

CHELSEA DUNCAN
April 21, 2006

GLIDE — Out of all the T-shirts that sat in boxes in the quarters at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, Sgt. Jamie Cox’s roommate wondered why the Sutherlin native snatched up a dark blue one lying on top of the pile.

The importance of the Glide Rural Fire Department insignia was lost on the other California guardsman, but to Cox, it was a sight for sore eyes.

“I was pretty shocked when I opened up the box,” said Cox, a 25-year-old member of the California National Guard.

The shirt, signed by Glide Fire Chief Dan Tilson in black scrawling letters, was stamped with the Hero to Hero logo on the front.

Some 6,000 T-shirts from emergency response agencies from around the country, including about 150 from Douglas County, were shipped to Iraq near the end of February. The grass-roots Hero to Hero effort began with a military mother in Lakewood, Wash., and has grown into a national effort.

Out of all of those shirts sent randomly to connection points in Iraq, Cox found one from the home of Glide Lumber, where he used to work and his father, Roger, remains employed.

While on leave this month, Cox, who leaves for Iraq again Saturday, visited the Glide department to express his gratitude last week.

“It meant a lot to our firefighters,” said Debbie Dean, the department’s business manager, of the visit and the program.

Cox’s yearlong tour in Iraq, where he runs a compound at the prison as a shift leader, began in December. He’d served in the Marines since graduating from Sutherlin High School in 1999 until 2003.

He returned home afterward, but when Douglas County guardsmen started coming back after their tours in Iraq last year, Cox decided it was his turn to go. He connected with a unit in Sacramento because none of the Oregon units were deploying at the time.

“Being in the military, you can only see so much on TV until you want to go,” Cox said.

He didn’t expect to end up at Abu Ghraib, but there’s “never a dull moment” there. Working with the many detained innocent Iraqis — caught up in the sweeping arrests that occur when a bomb explodes on a street — has given Cox rare insight into the war.

“Being in the prison … you see both sides of it,” he said, displaying an intricately woven tassel an Iraqi gave him made from the threads of a prison jumpsuit.

More…
http://www.oregonnews.com/article/20060421/NEWS/60421002

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By Robin Givhan
The Washington Post

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By: Susannah Cahalan, 24. 04. 2006
Czeck Business Weekly

Back in 1990, the product line of graphic design studio and publishing house Fun Explosive began with four brightly colored postcards and a large dose of optimism.

Today, images from its popular T-shirts – such as Franz Kafka stalking the nighttime streets of Prague or Mozart dancing on the sidewalk – have made Fun Explosive one of the most recognizable brand names in Prague’s crowded souvenir shop business.

But the key lesson that graphic artist Ji?í Votruba and his business partner Martin Vohryzek learned may be surprising: the best way to capitalize on the growing numbers of tourists is to diversify the product line and stay small.

Fun Explosive offers an impressive catalogue of products based on Czech subjects. Besides Mozart (who lived here for a while) and Kafka, whimsical designs with the Golem, Charles Bridge and Baroque street scenes adorn coffee mugs, T-shirts, posters and stationery. A children’s book on Mozart’s time in Prague is due out in a couple of months.

The owners – Votruba, the artist, and Vohryzek, the businessman – diversify products so that, as Vohryzek puts it, “all ages can find something they like.” Votruba’s images focus on the intellectual side of the Czech tourism industry. “I try to avoid tailoring things to tourists’ tastes. Instead, I show the culture and history of the city in a fun way.” said Votruba.

But the product line is slowly transforming. Vohryzek said that the nature of the typical tourist has changed in the past decade. “In the beginning, tourists coming to Prague wanted to see and experience its history and culture. The tourist now is different; they’re not as wealthy, they’re younger and less interested (in such things).”

With this in mind, Votruba designed a new product line. Called Abstract Praha, it will include symbols such as a tank within a bull’s-eye, a clear reference to the Prague Spring. “That’s what the younger market likes,” said Vohryzek. “We’ll see how it works.”

The company now owns 10 stores – including two in prime locations, on Karlova street near Charles Bridge and one on the Zlatá uli?ka (Golden Lane) in Prague Castle – and operates with an annual turnover of over K? 20 million (€ 699,000). The company has sold 1 million textiles since it began operation.

They also distribute merchandise to bookstores, airport shops, hotels and high end tourist shops. “When you combine the two [stores and distribution] you’re able to remain independent, but also sell more of your product,” said Vohryzek. Right now, the ratio between sales from their own stores and distribution sales is 70 to 30, he added, but the aim is to achieve a 50/50 ratio.

Not outgrowing demand

Although Fun Explosive is successful, the owners stick to a stable business model. “We don’t want to be huge; we want to be safe. And safe means that we don’t lose our business if we open too many shops,” Vohryzek said.

Fun Explosive remains small, relying on friends and a small staff. Their inventory is produced in printing houses mostly based in Prague and owned by friends. Vohryzek sometimes even drives the delivery van.

Foot traffic is the deciding factor in a souvenir shop’s livelihood, and where it’s heaviest, rent is highest.

Recently, Fun Explosive found a potential shop location near Old Town Square. They offered the owner K? 40,000 per month for 30 square meters; they were outbid by someone willing to pay K? 176,000 per month.

Jonathan Hallett, managing partner of Cushman & Wakefield, insists that these prices are normal. He estimates that a 50 square meter shop with five meter frontage on a prime part of Celetna street, another prime location, will rent for € 100 per square meter per month.

Fun Explosive has experimented with locations for almost a decade. They’ve closed 10 shops and opened 10 others, following Vohryzek’s policy of closing the least profitable shop when a new one opens.

Big in Japan

Competition from thousands of souvenir shops has made a high turnover rate harder to sustain. Vohryzek estimates that the number of tourist shops has increased fivefold since 1995, while the number of tourists has approximately doubled. In other words, there are more tourists but many more shopping options. To make matters worse, they say, many competing companies have tried to imitate Fun Explosive’s distinctive designs.

But Fun Explosive has a branding image that allows for expansion abroad. Its prints are carried in bookstores and specialty shops in several cities in Japan plus Vienna and Salzburg in Austria.

More…
http://www.cbw.cz/phprs/2006042419.html

New Delhi, India
April 18, 2006

"I respect old age, when it is bottled" screams the message on a round-neck, body hugging T-shirt, bringing a smile on anybody`s face who reads it.

This and many other message T-shirts, some even bordering on obscenity, form part of the Gen-X wardrobe this summer, that increasingly wants to flaunt its "attitude".

That message T-shirts are gaining currency increasingly can be gauged from the fact that there has been an exponential increase in the number of companies that deal with message and cutomised message T-shirts.

"Our T-shirts reflect the youth culture. Who they are, what they believe in and we try to capture the teenage angst," says Ranjiv Ramchandani, of Tantra, one of the first companies to tap the message T-shirt market.

Some of the brands that are in vogue include, People Tree, which is known for its `socially responsible" messages, Nirvana and Moksha which dish out philosophical messages and religious images, and many other start-ups which do customised messages.

According to an industry estimate the T-shirt sales are growing at a fast pace, almost at fifty per cent each year. The T-shirt market is estimated at Rs 1,500 crore.

If Tantra reflects the attitude of the modern youth, People Tree thinks that people who wear its T-shirts too show an attitude, but of a different kind. "We think that people who buy our T-shirts want to show what they think about the society," says Sutanu of People Tree.

While one T-shirt carries the poem of anti-Nazi rev. Martin Niemoller, "First they came for the Communists, and I didn`t speak up, because I wasn`t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn`t speak up…." And another one simply says, "Buri Nazar wale, Tera bhi ho bhala."

Some of humorous messages doing rounds include, "This T-shirt was outsourced in India," and "Come to India- one billion people cannot be wrong." For the more adventurous, there are messages that are really bold and naughty.

"The market is huge," says Ramchandani, "We have tied up multicity malls, bookshops and individual stores and we have our own exclusive outlets, and we are rolling out in newer cities," he says. Delhi alone has four exclusive Tantra outlets, besides their products being available in scores of shops in the NCR region.

"The increase in the sales has been manifold. Our customers include foreign tourists who want to take a bit of Indian humour with them, and these t-shirts provide it," says Puneet Luthra, a shopkeeper.

More…
http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=289095&ssid=204&sid=LIF

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