Go to page 10 - Found Secret Stash of TIKI TOWELS!!!!

Sorry, no display in the Alameda store, but ... it's because they sold every last towel they had!

Hey Jentiki,
Thanks so much for going and taking a look see! Sold out? Cool! Sounds like the sale is moving all the towels left right outa da stores!
Mahalo from the volcano!

I got one in Thousand Oaks! The last one in the store!

Calitaki, thanks so much for the Pic. It warms the cockels o' my heart to see folks enjoying the towels!
Have a great 4th!
Big Aloha from Kl'auea - the active volcano and biggest fire cracker in the whole world!

Tiki Shark

http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2007-07-04 20:44 ]

woohoo! i just got back from big 5 and scored the last 2 tiki towels. i dig 'em brad. here's my daughter with one.

[ Edited by: kingstiedye 2007-07-04 15:23 ]

kingstiedye, Thanks for posting that great pic! Nice tikis on the fence by the way! And I'm digging that your daughter's wearing a 4th of July bikini, while holding the towel! SWANKY! Very SWANKY!
Big Mahalo from the Volcano!

Aloha!

Hey, looks like there will be another run of the Body glove Tiki towels. these will ONLY be sold at Dive and Surf in Redondo Beach Ca. I'm working on the order now. They should be at the Dive and Surf shop for thier big yard sale in Jan.

AND.... I'm working on a Tiki Design for a Dive N Surf towel. they will have to ok the design before produciton starts, but I'll post here if it moved forward.

Mahalo~

After we saw this topic, we started checking our local Big 5 stores and managed to score two of the tiki towels. Our store only had yellow, but some are still around if you search.

Aloha TC,

Well I was looking at the latest issue of "Hawaiian Style" Magazine and found this...

(The bit about the tiki towels, and that's the mag's cover in the lower right)
I about fell outa my chair!
Boy, they sure write N I C E things in their mag! (renkowned
I had chatted up the editor last summer. He said maybe he might put something in the last issue. When nothing showed up, I totally forgot about it. Well, one issue later...here it is! And, so far as I can tell, It's the only "Tiki" in the mag! An interesting notion for a magazine titled "Hawaiian Style". It's actually a really swanky big old 70 plus page mag that caters to photo spreads of multimillion dollar homes and high end gallery doo dads. However, you do occasionally find a Hilo Hattie reference - and now some Tiki Towels!

So, I got a thrill out of it.

If anyone's looking to sang up some Tiki Towels, this year they will be distributed only through two sources in the U.S.

In Southern California there are available through:
"Dive N Surf"
504 North Broadway
Redondo Beach, Ca 90277
(310) 372-8423

And if your on the Big Island of Hawaii you can get them at:

Body Glove Cruises
Kanoa Inc. P.O. Box 4523
Kailua Kona, Hawaii 96745
(808) 326-7122

Thanks for the continued interest in the tiki towels everyone!

Big Mahalo from the big Island!

..i like the towel design...any chance of getting one without all the body glove crap on it?? i prefer to be fashionable without being a walking billboard...thanks!!

Tipsy~
I got ya'. In the works even now is a new Tiki Towel design all tiki no brand names on it.

See, my little company is finally at the level where we might be able to introduce our own "label" of product into retail stores. (Maybe) It all depends on the "buyers" for the stores. I had the new designs shown at SURF EXPO - we got a good response. So, now we are gonna do a "sample" towel, and see if we get an order. I will keep you posted.

Cool!

Here's my wish list:

Bath towels
Sheets
Comforter
Pillows
Kitchen towels

That'll do for starters...... :D

cool- that is good news.....now what about making a towel that has MY face on it???.....or maybe a dart board with my face on it that you can market here on tiki central!!

maybe you should try to get some of this:

:D

Shouldn't that be Wipesite?

Is this going too far?

No, but THIS is:

That is soooo Mad Magazine!
Love it!

Okay, back to Towel biz.

The Body Glove Tiki Towels got amention in Hawaiian Style Magazine.

Funny, cause now they are gonna be darned hard to find anywhere for sale!

The body Glove TIKI towels that were in Big 5 Sporting Goods last year sold out, I don't you'll find any lurking in their store this summer. Maybe a few, but un likely. However, Big 5's new towel order for this year is not a TIKI design. Sorry. I tried, but they wanted something else.

This actually. Nice, but more surf than tiki.

Now, there WAS a second production run of the beloved Tiki Towels. 99.9 of them went to, of all places, Dubai - that wealthy country where the King is building islands in the shape of Palm Trees. Tiki is popular there I guess.

However, A few cases of tiki towels found there way elsewhere.
On the Big Island of Hawaii, in Kailua Kona, a good amount went to...
Body Glove Cruises
Kanoa Inc.
PO box 4523
Kailua Kona, HI 96745
(808) 326-7122

In California, a much smaller amount went to...
Freaky Boutiki
3742 Mission Blvd.
San Diego CA 92109
(858) 488-4924

Pretty darned sure that was the last production run ever to be made of that particular design. You might find the odd Tiki towel here or there on E-bay, but this is a heads up, that these are the last two places in the US to hunt these Tiki Towels down. I'm not even sure if either place is willing to ship, but you can ask. I'd ask Freaky Boutiki first.

Happy Hunting!

Aoha~

Hey! That new towel design is pretty sweet too! Just might need to pick up a couple of those. Are they the same color choices as last year?

Jentiki~ Yeah, for Big 5 they will be Yellow, Blue, and Coral-Pink. But we'll be getting them into some other stores with a slightly different color scheme.

Yellow, Blue and Red.

Good news it I have a chance to try some "printed" Body glove towels coming up. So, I'm thinking of creating a new Tiki Body Glove for that project. I'll post here if it comes to anything.

Aloooha Tiki Tribe!

So, the long journey of getting NEW tiki beach towels to market is almost over! (yippee!) Our shipment of towels has been delivered to our friendly EAST COAST retailers. Here's what they got:

My jacquard 2009 designs. (Jacquard means the design is made up of dyed yarn woven into the towel. It's a thicker fluffy-er towel)

This is the Blue Tiki towel. (even swanky-er than the Body Glove Tiki towels from last year? Maybe. You decide!)

It came out great! I'm really happy with these.
AND.....
I got in some more tiki designs in the Body Glove line.

There are two very tiki designs.

"Gothic Tropic Tiki"

These are PRINTED towels - so it's a thinner towel, but with lots more colors than the Jacquards.

"Lady of the Lava"

The Body glove towels come with stickers. (oh boy!) Really, they are thin towels that have cool graphics but maybe not the greatest thing to really try to dry off with. I kind of think of them as black velvet paintings you can lay on at the beach!

Where will these be on sale?
EAST COAST retail stores:
Alvin's Island stores - look for a location near you at http://www.alvinsisland.com
Marco Destin stores - Look for a location near you at http://www.marcodestin.net

The shipments just got to their main wear houses. I hear it's still cool in the FLORIDA area ( that's where most of these stores are) so they may not be in a rush to get them into the stores. It'll take a few weeks. By months end I'd say. Historically, they roll out all the new beach products in time for Spring Break.

I'm still hoping we can get some West Coast retailers interested in carrying the towels. However, it was not a huge run, so if west coast stores don't order soon, the east coast stores may just take all the towels - depending on how they sell in the first few weeks.

Perhaps this is the tiki gods creating a balance from last year when only the west coast stores had the Body glove Jacquard tiki towels?

If you are a RETAILER on the West Coast and you like to order some, please contact:

Showroom 504
1933 S. Broadway
LA CA 90007
(800) 225-6499
Ask for Cina Hodges

Big aloha!

Tiki Shark

http://www.tikishark.com
http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2009-03-06 13:24 ]

Noooooo!!!! The West Coast must have the towels! How else will my dreams come true?! Any chance you can hold back a few for me?

Hey TikiShark, cool thread and Sweet towels!! and hey, what do ya know... my parents just happen to be on Marco Isalnd FL and I see that there is an Alvin's store there! I'll have to send Mom on a beach towel run. I'll tell her it's for her grandson and she'll buy out the store, lol.

Aloha tiki Tribe!

Jentiki~ Ah, good news for the West Coast! Just heard that Hobie Surf shops have ordered:

The Royal Hawaiian beach towels... and...

The BLUE TIKI! (hoo-ray!)
To find a Hobie Surf shop near you please go to: http://www.hobie.com
They should be getting them near the end of the month - just like the stores on the East Coast.

Tikimommy~ Cools-vile! The ol' Grandma connection? You are in like flint! It helps having family who live near da beach!

Also... I may be able to nab a box and get it shipped here to the island, and then perhaps I can sell a few. But that will add on shipping costs from Hawaii back to where ever you are. Ah, unless you are here in Hawaii.

Also, the Body Glove Web site store will be getting some of the printed towels (I think).

Mahalo from the Big Island!

From the website, it appears that Hobie only sells online and through dealers. It doesn't appear that they have any physical shops of their own, unless I'm just not finding them on the site. Does that mean we'll be able to order the towels online?

Jentiki~ Hmmmm, try this: http://www.hobie.com/retail/

I think these are the retail store locations.

Hobie Dana Point
24825 Del Prado
Dana Point, CA 92629
Phone(949)496-2366
Email: [email protected]

Hobie Laguna Beach
294 Forest Avenue
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Phone(949)497-3304
Email: [email protected]

Hobie Ladera Ranch
25642 Crown Valley Parkway D-6
Ladera Ranch, CA 92694
Phone(949)429-5670
Email: [email protected]

If this is wrong info, let me know and I will contact our showroom where Hobie purchased from. I'll find out from Cina (the nice lady who sells our towels wholesale on the west coast) exactly where Hobie has their shops.

Big Aloha fom the Big Island!
B~

Tiki Shark

http://www.tikishark.com
http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2009-03-08 13:26 ]

Those towels are awesome!

Looks like I'll be making a little road trip to Laguna Beach unless some of them are going to make it up to LA.

[ Edited by: MauiRose 2009-03-09 20:42 ]

Aloha Tiki Tribe~

MauiRose~ Thanks! I'll have more news on when the Hobie stores will be getting their shipments. Should be by the end of the month.

My business partner was on the horn this morning talking with the buyer for the Marco Destin / Alvin's Island stores on the East Coast. The buyer says he's been to the wear house, seen the towels, and they are wonderful. Their getting the towels to the stores now, and they should be on the shelves and and ready for purchase as soon as this week end! (Yippee, and praise the Tiki Gods!)

Here's the Blue Tiki Beach Towel.

Alvin's Island stores - look for a location near you at http://www.alvinsisland.com
Marco Destin stores - Look for a location near you at http://www.marcodestin.net

You can find a store, and give them a call and see if they have the "Tiki Shark" beach towels in yet.

Big Mahalo from the Big Island!

Don't be a drip.

Buy a Tiki Shark towel now!

Fantastic beach towels! Do you know if they will have these in all of their stores?

On a side note: Alvins Island has the old Jungle Land/Magic Mountain location in Panama City Beach. It was featured in an early issue of Tiki Magazine and the basis for my tiki infatuation. Alvins Island is also the culprit to some (more than one) of the worst tiki paint jobs you can imagine!! Day glow colows and goofy paint jobs. Typical for the Redneck Riviera tourist T-shirt shops! I'm sure I will going in one this summer!

Great looking towels.

Alvin's Island, man there's a flashback.
Spent jr.high, high school and college years airbrushing at the Surf Hut in Destin/Ft. Walton Beach.

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Squiddy~ THANKS! Ah yes that's the new slogan, fer shure! Hey, loved your interview on Quite Village, but you have some darned WACKY taste in music. The mug sculptures were breath taking! U RAWK! (If anyone has not heard the latest episode of Quiet Village with Squid, go listen to it now!)
On a side note, I just tuned in a mug design to Holden.... not sure who's sculpting' it, but it might be you! (I hope)
AlohaStation ~ They should be at all the stores, but If you are going to be driving a long ways to get there, I'd call in advance and make sure they have them - or will hold one for you. The towels should be there this week end. Right now, really!

Alvin's Island stores - look for a location near you at http://www.alvinsisland.com
Marco Destin stores - Look for a location near you at http://www.marcodestin.net

"The Redneck Riviera"... Ha Ha Ha, I had not heard that one, that is too great! I'm looking forward to a field trip sometime to check out some of these old store locations in person.
Murph~ Alvin's Island... yeah, I feel kind of all warm a tingly that I got my towels in a such a long standing chain of surf shops. Kind of like being part of a vacation/beach going tradition. Let's hope they sell well, the shops re-order and I can get tiki towels in them for the next season too!

Big Aloha From the Big Island!

Tiki Shark

http://www.tikishark.com
http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2009-03-14 14:04 ]

Aloha Tiki Tribe!
Spring Break is here, and the tiki towels are in the stores!

The Blue Tiki

EAST COAST:
Alvin's Island stores - look for a location near you at http://www.alvinsisland.com
Marco Destin stores - Look for a location near you at http://www.marcodestin.net

You can find a store, and give them a call and see if they have the "Tiki Shark" beach towels in yet.

WEST COAST:
Look for the tiki towles at the Hobie Surf shop locations:
http://www.hobie.com/retail/
(I think these are the retail store locations.)

Hobie Dana Point
24825 Del Prado
Dana Point, CA 92629
Phone(949)496-2366
Email: [email protected]

Hobie Laguna Beach
294 Forest Avenue
Laguna Beach, CA 92651
Phone(949)497-3304
Email: [email protected]

Hobie Ladera Ranch
25642 Crown Valley Parkway D-6
Ladera Ranch, CA 92694
Phone(949)429-5670
Email: [email protected]

Before you go, you might want to check with each store. Just ask for the "Blue Tiki" beach towels, manufactured by Tiki Shark Hawaii.

Big Mahalo from the Big Island!
B~

..great- now what the hell are we supposed to do here in the midwest??......it's not like we have surf shops all over like the east and west coast.....this is nonsense...can't you sell some direct to us here on t.c. since we have no access??..unless those stores have websites and we can buy online...

those towels look good....big enough to cover my fat ass!!

I called the Hobie in Laguna Beach and they don't have them in yet and weren't sure when they'd be getting the shipment.

Tipsy McStagger ~ Well, the answer is so simple. Move to Florida or California. What's so hard about that? :) No, no, I understand. I was born in a small ditch during a tornado next to a corn field in Nebraska, so I feel your Midwestern pain. I really do.

But, hey, listen. Nonsense? Let me tell you about nonsense. (steps up onto soap box) Nonsense is a commercial system that's designed to make it hard for the small guy. If I could get a large retail chain (that had stores everywhere like Target, or K-mart, or Walmart, or Costco) to order from me... don't you think I would? I'd be freaking thrilled! However, we are a very small company, and the buyers for the big chains won't even give us an interview.

(by the way, If you are, or if you happen to personally know, a buyer for beach towels for any retail chain, please give me their info and an introduction, and I promise I'll get right on it. Really!)

Every season we show our line to every distributor we can.

The hard fact is, the bigger retail chains don't order from a small manufacturer who doesn't have a track record of producing very large orders - on time, without quality issues, and at a very low cost.

We have to start at the bottom. We are slowly building our distribution base in smaller retail chains. Sometimes store by store. The good news is, each year we produce larger orders. One day with luck and hard work, we'll get in - and be everywhere. Or, we'll go down in flames like thousands of small businesses every year.

Now, (getting down off soap box) I'm seeing about getting a few boxes shipped out here to the island. Then I can sell some towels to you good and wonderful tiki tribe folks online. I will keep you posted when I get them. Okay, Tispsy, everyone, sorry. I apologize about the small business man rant. It's been a hard week. I guess I really need a mai tai.

MauiRose ~ Thanks for calling them. I'm sorry you didn't get better information. The towel shipment came into the United States through Miami: that's where the largest orders were placed. After they sort out their shipping manifests, the rest of the shipment will (or is now) being shipped to California. I thought they'd be there by now, but I guess not. Best to check with them in a few days, or a week pending any new disasters we might encounter with this step in the process.

Did I say it's been one of those kind of weeks? Sorry. Once again, I really really want to get these towels to my fellow tiki tribe members. I will check on Monday with our Shipping company and see what's going on.

Big Mahalo for your support and patience.

B~

..no worries.....i just hate waiting all the time!!! :)

...but why not put them on your website?? or start a new website just for this part of your business?? why wait till the big stores have them before they become accessible to everyone ......isn't it true that before products hit the mainstream markets, the trendy and hip are usually the ones that find and purchase the product first, making having it a cool thing to own in the first place and then as it catches on and other folks see it and say "hey, that's cool-I want one" momentum builds and then next thing you know the big box stores are carrying the product, it goes mainstream and then slowly dies out since it's not cool to have something cool anymore if everyone has it.....

get them out there via whatever smaller channels you have..there are tons of small stores willing to carry them....eventually they will take on mass appeal, hopefully.

start with the company 8-ball.....seems it would be right up their alley and i know sven would be willing to help you since he is close to them.....

..and you don't need a warehouse to keep them on hand...know what i did with my martini lamps when i first started having them manufactured overseas and selling them??...i lived in a small apartment so i rented a small storage locker for less than $100 a month a few blocks from my apartment......i stored all my inventory there except for a few cases at the apartment to fill orders......when i needed more i went and got them from the storage unit...

the point is...don't let the fact that you don't have room to store inventory be a determining factor that is keeping you from reaching smaller markets both abroad and online.....there are plenty of ways to make it work.

now go have a maitai....:)

" In a perfect world...Elvis would still be alive ....and all the elvis impersonators would be dead!!"

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2009-03-21 15:31 ]

[ Edited by: Tipsy McStagger 2009-03-21 15:31 ]

Tipsy,

You are absolutely right.

I'm organizing having a few cartons extracted from the mainland and brought here so I can offer them up on line. You see, mostly we take an order for the towels, have them manufactured and then sent directly to the retailer's wear house. We never see the actual products - especially when our client's are often in Florida , and I'm over here in Hawaii.

And, you were right about that Mai Tai too!

B~

Damn nice designs, outta be very popular.

Aloha Tiki Tribe!

Beach Towels in stores and available on-line now!
(yippee!)

Our Beach Towels are available on the east coast at Alvin's Island beach shops.
Alvin's Island stores - look for a location near you at http://www.alvinsisland.com
On the west coast at Hobie Surf Shops.
Look for the tiki towels at the Hobie Surf shop locations: http://www.hobie.com/retail/
You can also contact Dive N' Surf in Redondo beach, they had a very limited supply, and may have a few left.

OR...
You may now purchase the Tiki Towels directly from us on line.
We have a supply of them all, but I think "The Blue Tiki" beach towel may be the one that sells out quickest.

Blue Tiki Beach Towel
On-line prices for all beach towels is...
$16.00 (Special Tiki Central discount while supplies last)
Plus $9 shipping and handling.
For shipping out of the county contact me and I'll let you know what the shipping will be.

Got Pay pal?
You can send your pay pal payment to my pay pal e-mail [email protected]

If you don't have pay pal, contact us through our website: http://www.tikishark.com
or e-mail us at [email protected]

Mahalo!

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2009-04-08 15:57 ]

Tiki Shark Jacquard Beach Towels -

Please note I had to adjust my shipping rates.
The towels are shipped from a wear house in LA via UPS ground.
Shipping and handling runs about $8 - $10 per towel not the $5 I thought.
If you order multiple towels please add $4 per additional towel.

All the orders that are already sent out - and you received your tracking number from me - don't worry about
the extra shipping cost. That was my mistake, and no worries.

However, all orders now are $9 S & H and $4 per additional towel.

Shipping to Hawaii (where I am, but not my towels!) and other countries, contact me and I'll find out what the rate will be.

Thanks!
B~

Aloha tiki Tribe!

I have finally gotten my Blue Tiki Beach towel up on the new "SHOP" area on my web site. Some tiki tribe folks from TC noticed the higher price and wondered if they had to pay that. No, you tiki central tribe folks can get the towels at $16.00 instead of the $19.95 on http://www.tikishark.com.

Just Personal Message me here at Tiki Central and I'll know to give you the discounted price. Let me also encourage you, that if you want one, don't wait too long, there are less in the LA wear house than I thought. Now we have like less than three cases of everything (all four designs) left.

Mahalo!

Tiki Shark

http://www.tikishark.com
http://www.myspace.com/Lotus_Land

[ Edited by: Tiki Shark Art 2009-04-11 14:36 ]

Tiki Shark ~ Love your beach towels!

LOVE these towels!!! So soft and plush and fabulous designs! Buy them!!!

Brad, what about the Gothic Tropic Tiki and Lady of the Lava Beach towels? have those?

Great article in Maui Art & Culture Magazine by the way.

Aloha tiki Tribe!

Well, after being off line for a week, the computer component I had to order arrived, my computer is fixed, and I'm once again connected back into the tiki culture! Yipee!
RevTikiThanks!
Jentiki big Mahalo, gald you like them! I still have some of the jacquards - you can order them from my web site, ( http://www.tikishark.com ) and I hear they are all over Florida in the Alvin's Island stores.

Turns out this one is the biggest seller so far.
Ba-dum... Bah-dum....
Mauitiki~ After working out several production snags, looks like we may get them finished and to market after all! (whew!) I'll be sure to post here when they are making their way to the stores, or my web site.

Big Aloha!

ALOHA TIKI TRIBE!
I found a secret stash of TIKI TOWLES! We all thought we had run out a while ago, but I have a box full!

Brad (Tiki Shark) Parker TIKI TOWEL
30" x 60"
100% Cotton

Super-ultra-swanky vibrant colors
Fresh from a secret stash on the volcanic Big Island of Hawaii!!

Order from me and I will Autograph them!!!
(secret Stash S A L E !)
$15 & $5 S&H = $20!
Send $20 to my pay pal registered e-mail [email protected]

Tell me it's for the tiki towels, and let me know where you want 'em sent.

BIG ALOHA!
B~