AEGEA: Billy releasing some experimental music from 2007

[Araneae]

I honestly did not mind the shop at all when it started, I even thought it might be good for him to have something outside of music to focus on. I thought of going, too. I just don't know what the fuck has happened in the past 9-12 months and who's idea it was to go down this marketing route, when Billy was so adamant against it previously. He wanted the shop to succeed on its own merit.

[slunken]

or what about bands on tour that have a merch table and sell releases from their side projects? i love it to death when that happens.

i saw vivian girls way back and was like where are the "the babies" cdrs?
i saw lightning bolt and was like where are the comics?

guess what? both had them.

i saw steve reich give a lecture and guess what not only could you buy some books you could buy some albums as well.

[juliana]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

when you limit what is, essentially, a coffeeshop to TEA ONLY OR GET OUT it's hard to fathom, tbh.

They have coffee actually, at least they did at the beginning.

The issue is the location

[slunken]

now i'm on a google hunt to find musical artists who also run/own/operate storefronts.

[slunken]

Originally Posted by juliana

The issue is the location

yea - 45 minutes out into the 'burbs. also there are plenty of amazing coffee options available. i think everyone in chi-town is all about intelligensia coffee atm.

[slunken]

i mean its not like this shop is "downtown" or in wicker park or something

[pavementtune]

Originally Posted by slunken

or what about bands on tour that have a merch table and sell releases from their side projects? i love it to death when that happens.

i saw vivian girls way back and was like where are the "the babies" cdrs?
i saw lightning bolt and was like where are the comics?

guess what? both had them.

i saw steve reich give a lecture and guess what not only could you buy some books you could buy some albums as well.

That's not even comparable to Zuzu's "I don't know what's in it, but it's money for me" approach and you know it.

[juliana]

Billy realized that neighbourhood is dead and could only make SP fans travel to see him. He then realized a lot of SP fans can't come to Chicago. So he decided to embrace his fans to keep his hobbies alive.

I think he thought before that SP fans would scare customers... Do you blame him?

[slunken]

i'm gonna buy a zuzu's shirt right now just out of spite

[Trotskilicious]

OH ALRIGHT THEN

[adamdanger!]

I wonder if Sammy Hagar fans bitch about tequila.

[Araneae]

Supposedly it's a decent location for HP, near the metra. It was supposed to be a local shop, but it hasn't turned a profit in its two years, even with his campaign to host DJ sets.

[slunken]

woah what the fuck 2.50 tax and $10 shipping gtfo

[slunken]

i'm not paying $43 for a shirt

gonna need more beer first

[juliana]

Originally Posted by pavementtune

That's absolutely not what he said when they opened.
He wanted a place for LOCAL people to meet, add something that HP didn't have. Naturally he did everything to make sure that wouldn't work out.

He said something like how if SPfans came to stalk him all the time he would stop going into the shop, he said it before it opened.

[juliana]

Originally Posted by Araneae

Supposedly it's a decent location for HP, near the metra. It was supposed to be a local shop, but it hasn't turned a profit in its two years, even with his campaign to host DJ sets.

It is supposedly a quiet area with not a lot of foot traffic.

[slunken]

judging from the price of a shirt - a double LP shipping would be about $25

with tax the double LP of AEAGEA will cost about $90

[slunken]

Originally Posted by juliana

It is supposedly a quiet area with not a lot of foot traffic.

"We depend on drive-by traffic for business,"

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/story/20...oversized-sign

[slunken]

YEA BUT ZUZUS DOESN'T HAVE A LIQUOR LICENSE DOES IT PAVEMENTTUNE???

[Araneae]

NO BELLY IS ALLERGIC TO ALCOHOL

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by pavementtune

He wanted a place for LOCAL people to meet

A local shop you say? For local people?

[Araneae]

Originally Posted by pavementtune

See? They're asking twice as much for everything. The tea isn't worth more than 50% for that quality and origin, same goes for the antiques, and the shirts.

Billy claimed in a recent article that raising the prices has made the store more popular in HP…but what I think he really meant is that it made up for losses with no gain in clientele.

There is truth to what you say, especially in Chicago. The tea market has been growing for a while now and Billy is actually quite late to the game. I think he would have been better served to stick to the original plan, to really grow the store locally and build it around the community, and then think about expanding internationally through their online store. It's obvious there's no real business plan in place, and they're just trying to do everything all at once.

[fuzzyroes]

Who the fuck would wanna buy and wear a ZuZus tea shop shirt anyways?

I mean, we're all adults here.

[juliana]

I have bought tea at the prices billy sells his at. Don't know if it is as good as the tea I have though.

The problem with his stuff is it doesn't come across as special or specialty. The tea brands that sell at that price point really have beautiful products which match the quality.

[Trotskilicious]

Originally Posted by fuzzyroes

I mean, we're all adults here.

says the guy who just posted about green day on the music board

[pavementtune]

Originally Posted by Trotskilicious

A local shop you say? For local people?

I never got your avatar thingy - where is that quote from?

[fuzzyroes]

Yeah man, I posted that Insomniacs a really quality album. Then you came in with some sarcastic comment.

[pavementtune]

Originally Posted by juliana

I have bought tea at the prices billy sells his at. Don't know if it is as good as the tea I have though.

The problem with his stuff is it doesn't come across as special or specialty. The tea brands that sell at that price point really have beautiful products which match the quality.

Plus teas in this price category are fair trade, have a certificated origin and are not the result of some halfwit fiddling around with it to create the ultimate "24 hours awake my heart is racing" energy drink. The price is the only thing that gives Zuzu's tea the appearance to be high class, and people fall for it. Namely SP fans who pay for international shipping, but that doesn't work in a wealthy suburb to draw in locals.

[Araneae]

I wondered about that. I'm a tea drinker and there's nothing about this guy's tea that certifies its quality and origins. His website doesn't even have much information when I checked it out. Asides from the absurdly high prices for what they're selling, the packaging is also awful.

I just took a look at Billy's tea shop's twitter. Now they're importing local food from farms in New York. Are local Illinois farms not good enough? Way to not build local support.

[fuzzyroes]

I think ZuZu's is intended to be some kind of Tourist trap. Music fans just pass on thru when they're out in Chi-Town because it's "Billy Corgans place" and probably buy a bunch of cheap T-shirts and overpriced nick-nacks