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Shopping for Ska
Music - Clothing & Shoes - Zines - Other

Music

Sound Garden

124 Walton St, Syracuse NY 13202 -- (315) 473-4343

Largest independent music store in the Syracuse area. Located in the Armory Square section downtown, Eric from local ska band Straighter Than Pete maintains the small ska section, next to the much larger reggae area. But where else in town are you going to find older Toasters albums? They also have a small used ska section, but the good stuff flies out the door. Special orders cost nothing extra, often get filled within days and are competatively priced with mailorder. Excellent service and great local music section too. Open M-W 10-10, Th-Sat 10-midnight, Sun 12-8. Support local merchants that support ska! [6/03]

Jump Up Records PO Box 13189, Chicago IL 60613

Chuck Wren has been at it for many years now and he's still easily your best mailorder source for ska music from all over the world. You name it, Europe, Asia, Latin America, Africa and of course, the USA, he carries it at very reasonable prices and with good service. If you see something interesting on his mailorder list (and that's most of it!), don't wait too long, because a lot of his stock are limited releases or one time shipments. When Chuck isn't doing mailorder, he's running his little ska label or putting on ska shows or doing his ska radio show (notice a little pattern?). Chuck is still the king of Midwest ska.

Black & White Mailorder Mailorder based in NYC that specializes in ska and reggae

This is the mailorder division of Stubborn Records, so most of what they sell is their own stuff, but they do carry a few other items and the service and prices are pretty decent.

Irie Bay CDs Mailorder based in Maine that specializes in reggae and ska

We don't know anyone personally that's used this source yet, but they certainly look good and seem to have a decent collection and prices, though they seem to lack many of the newest titles. They also seem, not too surprisingly, to lean heavier towards reggae releases.

Clothing & Shoes

Highly Atomic 527 Charles Ave, Syracuse NY 13209 -- (315) 488-1505

This new vintage clothing store has really cool clothes & accessories and vintage music. Open Wed-Sat 11am-8pm, Sun noon-5pm.

J Michael Shoes 173 Marshall St, Syracuse NY 13210 -- (315) 471-4237

Carries good selection of Fred Perry and Ben Sherman clothing, along with Doc Marten boots and shoes. Also has numerous other shoes in black/white patterns, including checkers. Not cheap, but a good selection and easier to see what you're actually buying than mailorder. Adjacent to the SU campus. Open M-Sat 10-7, Sun 12-5. [6/03]

Bergan Brother's 328 S Salina St, Syracuse NY 13202 -- (315) 471-9162

Located in the heart of downtown, this men's clothing store serves primarily an older African-American clientele, but if you want affordable style and pizazz, it doesn't get any better than this. They have two-tone anything (including wingtips) and where else can you get a suit in any wild color your heart desires?

99X Clothing 84 East 10th Street, New York, NY 10003 -- (212) 460-8599

British owned and operated since 1985 in New York City, 99X specializes in footwear and clothing of British manufacture. 99X is the preeminent source for lines such as Dr. Martens, Fred Perry, Ben Sherman, Lonsdale, The Merc and more. Does mailorder, or visit in person if you'll be in the East Village section of NYC. Hours are M-Sat 12-8, Sun 12-7.

Crash & Burn 1524 Hannah St, Atlanta, GA 30315 -- (404) 522-BURN

Retail store in Atlanta, Georgia that also does mailorder. They stock hard-to-find ska/punk/oi items. "Fast, reliable mailorder since 1990". Best known for carrying a wdie assortment of Ben Sherman and Fred Perry shirts, along with braces and flight jackets. Hours are Tue-Fri 12:30-7pm, Sat 12-7pm EST.

Merc Clothing 10 Carnaby Street, London, W1V 1PG, United Kingdom -- 44 (0)207 4397750

The legendary retail store in London since 1967. Known for setting the standard in traditional ska fashion for decades. Classic British styling.

Zines

Hoi Polloi! PO Box 13347, Rochester NY 14613 USA

"Ska for the man on the street", this is a very well researched and written zine thats been going since January 1996. Does a really good job of covering the upstate scene, including local bands. The latest is Issue #8, out Fall 2003 that has interviews with the Planet Smashers and David Hillyard, articles on Lee Perry and The Clash, tons of album reviews, an interesting editorial by Nightshift's Yvonne Moir, info on local Rochester ska, and more. Limited number of issues at $3 each. Email Jav at javaccar@hotmail.com for more information. Also, see Issue #3 for some idea of what the writing is like. [9/03]

Other

Chex Stuff

PO Box 59830, Chicago IL 60659 -- (888) 650-7004

Though this website is targeted at car racing fans, this is still easily the most exhaustive online catalog of items with checkers on it, hands down. You name, they have it, at very reasonable prices. Make sure you check all 15 pages of the online catalog. Just don't go overboard and wear too much of this stuff at one time -- accenting is much better than making people think you've lost your mind! Open M-F 8am-6pm (Central) and sometimes beyond that. [6/03]

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