Tag Archives: Grubwear

New In Town: Jackson’s General – Catch All For Cool

24 Sep

JacksonGeneralMike Jackson is a long time small business owner in Vancouver with a loyal following. To learn more about his now 30 years in business, check out our previous feature on what he did to celebrate 30 years in business.  Today, we want to tell you about how Mike has reinvented himself one more time. I’d say this is his swan song, but with Mike you just never know. Mike’s been pretty busy, these last 6 months creating Jackson’s General  Store which officially opens any day now at 1490 Kingsway (at Dumfries) at Knight. It’s located right next to the White Spot you can’t miss it. Some of you may remember this space as Franks Y Parts & Service. We got a sneak peak of this totally reworked space and we have to stay it’s pretty darn cool.  It is a general store in the front with a focus on supporting small independent businesses.  The majority are Canadian and local and throughout the store you will find some of the coolest vintage items.  We were particularly fond of the working PayMaster Ribbon Writer. Many will recognize some local East Van businesses including Sriracha Revolver, ChopValue coasters and Plenty + Spare soaps and skincare. You will also find wallets, t-shirts, ball caps, sunglasses, mugs, totes and some very unique books. There is a cooler section not yet fully stocked, but we did find some Kaylin & Hobbs Pickles.  For kids of all ages, there is a great retro candy counter, think Popeye Candy Cigarettes, gum in the Gold Rush bags and candy necklaces. If you are looking for fun unique gifts, there is lots on offer at Jackson’s General Store with a distinct East Van flavour.   Show some East Van love and stop in and say hello once they officially open. We’ll give you a heads up as soon as that happens.  In the meantime, you can also find Mike on Facebook and Instagram.

 

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Mike Jackson East Van Business Owner Celebrates 30 Years In Business

20 Aug

IMG_2728 (2)Have you made your way to Les Faux Bourgeois, Heartbreaker Salon or Savio Volpe at the corner of Kingsway & Fraser?   If you have, did you catch Mike Jackson’s shop tucked next to Savio Volpe?

It’s a small shop with a retail component in the front and more space at the back for the custom work he does. Thus, the name Studiotique, studio in the back – boutique in the front. We recently started working with Mike and in doing so learned that this is one cool guy who has weathered many incarnations to stay in small business for 30 years. This is quite an accomplishment.

It all began in 1988. Mike was attending the University of Western Ontario, and launched Grubwear Clothing Co. He hit the streets to create and sell streetwear and action sports clothing from the back of his Honda Civic. Soon after, he drove West with his dog Memphis and a U-Haul to open Thriller, his first retail venture. Mike wanted to create bold graphic t-shirts and has a passion for sports, beach lifestyle, surf, skateboard and snowboarding.  He was driven to bring these passions together with a cutting-edge design and unique merchandise.  Grubwear with his now infamous TRI-G logo was born and has led him around the world with one of his passions, snowboarding. This in turn led him to launch Jackson Snowboards in 1991.  The business grew and evolved, Mike had distributors in 11 countries from Germany to Japan.  In 1996, he opened Thriller Shop in Kitsilano which became the head office for all his brands, Grubwear, Boris Brothers and Jackson Snowboards.   After 3 stores, 15 employees, Mike has scaled things back at his store at Kingsway & Fraser and focuses on his brands that he sells from his storefront as well as his online shop and doing custom work.

Now in 2018, things have come full circle for Mike.  To celebrate his 30 years in business, on August 1, 2018 Mike launched a KickStarter Campaign to create 30 special edition Jackson snowboards. He is working with Rob Dow, the creator of WIRED Snowboards in Vancouver who has 25 years of experience in design and production. Mike launched his Kickstarter campaign with the aim of raising $5,000. He reached that mark within 24 hour. If you wish to check out the Kickstarter Campaign to see what reward packages are still available, visit Mike’s Kickstarter.

 

 

It takes a lot to stay in business for 30 years.  Hats off to Mike who has reinvented himself many times over. Madonna comes to mind when we think of all his incarnations over the years. He may not like that we said that, but that’s how we see it. If you wish to check some of his cool designs, stop by his shop located at 617 Kingsway or check out his online store at Grubwear. You will see East Van merchandise figures prominently. If you are looking to have some custom t-shirts, jerseys, bags what have you for your sports team or for your business, Mike’s your man.

We raise a beer to Mike for 30 years in business! Cheers.

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ILiveInEastVan Tote Bags

31 Jul

ILiveInEastVanLogo2018If you’ve been following along with ILiveInEastVan, you will see we have launched a new logo recently pictured here. This now copyrighted design pays homage to the street signs we grew up with in East Van with a nod to the ever present crow in Vancouver.

On launching our new logo, we received some positive feedback. So we are excited to announce we have created a limited run of hand screened nylon tote bags with this original design.  These bags were hand screened here in East Vancouver by Mike Jackson of Grubwear in Mount Pleasant. If you don’t know Mike, he has been creating designs for street wear since 1988. Mike began working out of the back of his Honda Civic and is now situated at Fraser & Kingsway in East Vancouver.  Our aim in creating these bags is threefold.  One to support local East Van businesses in the design, sale and production of ILiveInEastVan bags. Second creating a sturdy reusable bag which we hope you will use often in place of single use plastic bags. Lastly, a bag that shows your pride in living in East Van.

If you wish to purchase the ILiveInEastVan Nytlon Tote Bag, it is currently available at Second Nature Home at 3565 Commercial Street in Cedar Cottage. ILiveInEastVan is now also on Etsy. We are offering free delivery of any purchase to residents of Vancouver until August 30th.

We are looking at other colours and styles of bags and are open to suggestions of what you’d like to see.  Canvas bags are in the works.  We’ve already had requests for t-shirts with the new logo. If it’s something you’d like to see, let us know. Drop us a comment below, or send us an email at ILiveInEastVan@gmail.com.

 

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