Daddy Katz: Monstrous Towering Tiki is erected!!!

Ohio has only two big contributions to the vitality of Tiki right now: the super-dedicated members of the Fraternal Order of the Moai - which started here - and now Daddy Katz, a new shop in Dayton.

The exterior will recieve a paint job soon and a 12' lighted Tiki! This was taken during a recent cruise-in. The Daddy Katz sign is out of frame.

Being Ohio, Tiki alone couldn't keep Daddy Katz going. Car Culture, Mid-Century, and Pinup also share the spotlight. Notice I don't say "Kar Kulture"? Sorry, but my dictionary wasn't written by Kool & the Gang.

Daddy Katz opened a few weeks ago and is owned by Bill Winger: a man as deranged as a mercury addict and with a bigger-than-life personality. I chose this streaked pic of Bill because it really captures his personality: smiling and very busy.

An excellent sign is that business has been smoothly ramping up from the beginning, and the Tiki stuff actually sells here. Bill has the resources and savvy to run Daddy Katz the right way. This gives him time to let word-of-mouth spread, to advertise, and to make constant improvements to every aspect of his shop.

Bill opens the warehouse area for large parties. This is the Halloween party, which included a band, food, and a lot of creative types.

Some of my work, Daniel Brown's, and others is in this corner with some Witco and a whole cabinet full of lowbrow art stickers.

I'd get more of Wayne Coomb's carvings in the pics but Bill keeps selling them.

Several racks of cool threads fill the center of the shop.

It's hard to make out but there are about 20 small Tikis in this pic. The atmosphere is so swanky that it's hard to not think about what it would be like to live here.

Without a doubt this is an important finger taking Tiki's pulse. That's because it is such a remote outpost: except for the cities linked by I71/I75 Dayton is pretty much in the middle of an ocean of corn fields 100 to 200 miles across. So far the support has been surprisingly good, and the word is just starting to get out.

Daddy Katz
3250 Kettering Blvd.
937-238-6281
Daddykatzkustomkulture.com

http://www.robbhamel.com

Black velvet Tiki art for those who are
tired of those pesky acrylic paintings!

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2009-04-02 06:01 ]

I'm SOLD!!!!!!!! I am leaving Palm Springs for Ohio in the morning!!!!!
Great Stuff Robb and I love the new ad in Tiki Mag. You are the KING of Black Velvet in my mind.

Cool DADDY-O

On 2008-12-14 11:03, Robb Hamel wrote:
Ohio has only two big contributions to the vitality of Tiki right now: the dedicated and reliable members of the Fraternal Order of the Moai - which started here - and now Daddy Katz, a new shop in Dayton.

Robb, aren't you from Ohio? That makes three big contributions to the vitality of Tiki. Looks like Daddy Katz has got it goin' on!

Rory, you should live in a place like this shop! It fits your personality perfectly. Our suckass weather, though... unless you like an average of 89 sunny days a year.

Mike, I think we'd better give me a few more years before making that kind of claim! The shop really is great, more than the North Coast is worthy of.

Here is a better view of the main entrance. During this cruise-in the large rear parking lot was packed.

This is a good view the bar area just inside the entrance. Small hand-carved Tikis are by Lake Tiki.

Daddy Katz kicks ass!
It's a great shop and Bill is a great guy.

a.k.a. hi fi hijinx

Bill is a great guy, really has the Aloha spirit. I can't wait till I'm out that way to check his store out. The store pictures look terrific.It's cool to know that out in the middle of the corn belt sits a tropical isle filled with tiki treasures.

Bill is awesome. Thanks for the pics, now I'm gonna have to make the trek to Ohio to check out his store.

Daddy Katz has three major things going for it:

The inventory is very cool and diverse.

The customers (like almost everyone in Tiki I've met) are easy to get along with and enthusiastic.

Bill is as great a guy as everyone above says he is. He's a real character and the perfect guy for this shop.

This unbelievable piece of work is by the super-talented Billy Ray.

Here's one of Bill's displays with a small piece of mine.

I've added contact info to the first post here for those interested.

Hi Robb, I was just looking at your web page last night and admiring your velvet art. Now here you are popping up on TC the vary next morning. I love your style and content choice. I noticed one of your velvets on the wall in these photos you posted. Terrific. Will you ever have your velvets done as poster art like Doug Horne? Wendy

Thanks for all the Good Words Katz.....I'm haven a great time getting the shop going.
More fun to come in the future. Sign up for my e-news at http://www.daddykatz.com , and stay up on all the Kuel events.

If your traveling through Dayton, during the holidays,(or anytime) and I'm not open, Give me a call on my cell ( 937-238-6281 )and I'll be glad to open up for ya.

Normally open Tue-Sat 11am-6pm

As always..I wish you all a Harry Mistress !!

On 2008-12-18 07:19, danlovestikis wrote:
Hi Robb, I was just looking at your web page last night and admiring your velvet art. Now here you are popping up on TC the vary next morning. I love your style and content choice. I noticed one of your velvets on the wall in these photos you posted. Terrific. Will you ever have your velvets done as poster art like Doug Horne? Wendy

Robb Hamel's "Godlight" shown in Robbs photo,now resides in Cincinati at Tiki-Tim's house.Thanks for the great Velvet art Robb!Also,thanks Bill,a.k.a. Daddy Katz,for holding that for me.Make sure if your in Ohio to stop by Daddy Katz,located right off of I-75.

Bill obviously goes by HulaZombie here, thanks for popping up.

Thanks very, very much Tim for buying my absolutely swankiest velvet.

Back to Daddy Katz:

These two outdoor fireplace are the work of Tom Stump, and are clearly styled after the 21' fireplace at the Kahiki. I believe these are about 6' tall. Humungo!

Since this thread is about the health of Tiki at its core, I should mention that Daddy Katz has had a stunning first X-mas. Jaw-dropping might be a better word. In this economy I think that the message is that Tiki, done in exactly the right way, is doing just fine, thank you.

After seeing those great pictures we just had to drive out and check out the store. WOW!~ what a fun place to shop. We got there on a Sunday morning and gave Bill a call. He came right over and opened up the shop for us.The mix of new and vintage, tiki and and hit rod stuff really makes shoping interesting. You never know what you will find on the next shelf or hanger.
Something to note for 50's light fixture collectors: Bill has some fantastic fiberglass shades! cool colors with great graphics.

Thanks for sharing this place with us Robb. I met Bill and his wife Rosie at Hukilau this past year and found them to be the nicest folks and instantly became friends. Congrats Bill on your dream coming true bro, it suits you...

KuKu - glad you enjoyed the place. It's weird, but I first met Bill and Rosie at the Hukilau. I had to travel 800 miles to meet a guy who lives 20 minutes away!

exotica59 - the fiberglass shades and lamps are made by Rob Cession (I'll have to check my spelling on his name... sorry!).

All of these colorful and beautifully made shades are new stuff, handmade locally.

Most of these shades are by the above artist - especially the cool white lamp at the top of the frame and the red one barely visible beyond it.

http://www.robbhamel.com

Black velvet Tiki art for those who are
tired of those sticky acrylic paintings!

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2008-12-31 18:00 ]

About two hours ago, Bill finished supervising the building of this window display while my wife and I assisted:

Notice the super-heavy Tiki emphasis?

A safe and happy New Year to everyone!

I don't see a Robb Hamel painting anywhere in that pic.
All that hard work and you don't get faced like the rest of his wares.
What's up with that? :wink:

a.k.a. hi fi hijinx

Hey Joe,

Good to see you here! The theme of the window is an old car hulk on a beach surrounded by Tikis and plants - I guess my work didn't fit. I didn't think of it myself....

I'll call you later about checking out your legend-grade mug collection.

Cool!

Are there many places like this on the West Coast? One on every corner?

Here it is, the biggest Tiki in this area:

12 insane feet of Wayne Coombs work, still in the crate, waiting for a not so ass-freezing cold day. When that happens, this baby will be parked in front of the store catching the eyes of thousands as they drive or walk by.

nice stuff!!!......cooler than the stores in a big city like chicago...and that's sayin something!

how much are those kahiki fireplaces???......i may have to get one for my new tiki room project......

i feel left out :(...

you should have called me before i sold my grill...it would have made a great addition to your store......

..i saw this.....

and i thought i'd add this:

Tipsy - that is a great grill, esp. the knucklebuster handle! Did you do all that work?

Bill can give you the price on the outdoor fireplace/grill thingies at [email protected]. I think they're more than 6' high and very impressive in person, about like an extra-tall refrigerator.

On 2009-01-23 06:01, Robb Hamel wrote:
Here it is, the biggest Tiki in this area:

Not quite.
Close.

On 2009-01-23 15:50, Robb Hamel wrote:
Tipsy - that is a great grill, esp. the knucklebuster handle! Did you do all that work?

Bill can give you the price on the outdoor fireplace/grill thingies at [email protected]. I think they're more than 6' high and very impressive in person, about like an extra-tall refrigerator.

thanks!! i did all the work and fabrication myself...and thanks for the info on the fireplace!

Anytime, Tipsy.

tikiskip - Wow, how big is that thing? Are you in Ohio?

The store looks FABULOUS!!!!!

Will you be expanding the mail order?

Robb,

Tiki Skip's moai is from the entrance of the Kahiki.
It is indeed real.
It is still in Columbus.
Tiki Skip is a FOM member.
You may have met him before.

a.k.a. Hi Fi Hijinx a.k.a. Joe from Cincy

Yes I am in Columbus Ohio.
It is 17 feet tall.
Going to try to fix/raise this year.
You need to come by and see it this spring.

P.S. Wayne of Mai Tiki is a very cool guy.
I love his work.
He is the guy who did Daddy Katz tiki.
We also have three Mai Tiki Tikis.

http://www.sevenpleasures.org/gallery/Tikiskips/IMG_0394

Thanks fot the pics, tikiskip. You have a helluva back yard. I was wondering what happened to the Kahiki moais (moai?).

Are you gonna be at Polynesian Fire? If so, see you there.

No we can not make Polynesian Fire.
Would like to meet you sometime though.
Have fun!!!

The massive Wayne Coombs tiki was just erected Sunday in the rain. The wiring, brackets, etc. were just completed so UP it went.

Now THIS outta catch some extra attention from passing cars!

Man, that place looks really, really cool. I live far away, but get down to the Columbus area several times a year, gonna have to make a side trip. Is it easy to find if coming down 75?

When are you gonna open a store in Boston?

Fog/Steam machine?

Big Kahuna - it may take some time before Bill could open a second store, but if you're ever in the area....

Thick - it is pretty easy. The exit is 10 minutes south of downtown Dayton on 75. That southern route looks a little more complicated than the other way, so you should MapQuest "3250 Kettering Blvd, 45439". Once you get on Dixie it's only a mile and one turn away. If you have trouble call the shop at 937-296-0347. The store is closed on Sunday/Monday.

http://www.robbhamel.com

Check out my website or my
mom will destroy the world!

[ Edited by: Robb Hamel 2009-04-03 05:49 ]

Thanks for the info, I will most definitely stop in as soon as possible. Hoping to make it down for this years hula hop, could be a total Ohio style Tiki blowout weekend.

What is that giant tiki made from? aircrete? Wondering what will withstand the freeze thaw cycle esp when mounted to a wall.

Rev. Bamboo Ben - it did come with a fog machine and LED illume on the eyes/mouth, I can't wait to see it at night.

The greenman - it looks like fiberglass with a metal structure and a foam filling. It sure seems ready for heavy weather.

Awesome Robb!
Too cool! Daddy Katz rocks!
Post some night pics soon!

Thick - You do know that there is not going to be a Hula Hop scheduled this year, right? However, Dayton will be having a freaking sweet event called Surf Ohio Tiki Fest on August 15th.
We're hoping it will be like "Hula Hop on steroids" as Hep says! Hope you can make that.

By the way, the HUGE tiki looks freakin' awesome.

The75Stingray - Damn, no haven't checked Hula hop web page in awhile, just kinda assumed (ya know what they say about assumin) Surf Ohio tiki fest eh? Hula Hop on steroids eh? well that sounds fun enough. Thanks for the heads up.

end hijack, back to admiring sweet store with giant tiki. . . .

i bet alot of women probably checked out this thread just to see the giant tiki erection!!! :)

If only they thought that way Tipsy....