Tag Archives: Shag

Shag: The Store – Palm Springs, CA

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Shag, Tiki Sites and Stores and tagged with , , , ,

EDITOR’S NOTE: Shag: The Store is now located at 745 N Palm Canyon Dr.

Last year, the folks at M Modern gallery opened Shag: The Store in Palm Springs—the first permanent retail space dedicated to the artwork of Josh Agle. It appropriately keeps some pretty swank company, with Trio Restaurant right next door and vintage and mid-century design stores nearby.

The store has an impressive stash of prints, mugs, books and other stuff, with many items that were previously sold-out. From time to time they also have prints that are exclusive to Shag: The Store, like the one coming up for their first anniversary.

During our visit they were featuring Shag’s collaborations with Disneyland from 2002 to 2010, including the much-coveted mugs inspired by the Enchanted Tiki Room.

They also had merch from the Haunted Mansion and Disneyland 50th anniversary series. I was sort of startled to see a stationery set I own (and apparently foolishly used) going for nearly $200. (Though that price includes the cost of not having to time-travel back to Disneyland five years ago when it was originally being sold).

It was fun to marvel at rarities like these “Japanese exclusive” mugs from 2006. (In this case, the price of the set includes the cachet of coming from Shag’s own collection…plus the peace of mind of not having your mugs arrive in pieces due to the carelessness of an eBay seller.)

There was at least one deal to be had, though. For five bucks, I picked up a Shag vinyl CD case. (You know, for those almost obsolete shiny round things that play music?)

The neatest part of the store is this groovy backdrop wall with a Shag-style tiki where you can pose like you’re in one of his paintings. If you ask nicely they’ll even bring out a box of fun props like fezzes!

The Shag Store
725 N. Palm Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, CA 92262
760-322-3400

EDITOR’S NOTE: Shag: The Store is now located at 745 N Palm Canyon Dr.

A Retro Retreat in Palm Springs – The Riviera

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Tiki Sites and Stores and tagged with , , , , ,

We had some time to spare in Palm Springs before “The Book of Tiki” anniversary art exhibition, so we made a quick side-trip to check out The Riviera hotel. This old-school stunner made its debut in 1959 and counted Frank Sinatra and Elvis among its high-profile patrons. It re-opened to much fanfare in 2008 after a year and a half of renovations.

It’s super swank all the way, and there’s nothing very tiki about it except the Shag prints hanging up along the Starlight Lounge just off the lobby.

Some parts of the resort are sort of mid-century modern meets Lady Gaga (or Liberace, if the thought of Lady Gaga makes you gag). Anyway, it’s very Vegas.

One of the walls in the gift acknowledges another desert hotspot for Old Hollywood: the Chi Chi. That nightclub is now, unfortunately, a shopping center but in its heyday it hosted Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington and Ella Fitzgerald, to name just a few.

That they featured so many jazz greats is already interesting to me, but the Chi Chi was also a Polynesian-style restaurant that at some point was decorated with thatch and tapa cloth. This menu borrowed from Edgar Leeteg’s black velvet painting “Hina Rapa,” an image they also co-opted for cocktail napkins and plates (Images from PalmSpringsLife.com/Palm Springs Historical Society).

The gift shop also had some rad art by Chris Reccardi, who’s worked on tons of cartoon projects including “Spongebob Squarepants,” “Powerpuff Girls,” and “Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.” I really dig the futuristic mod style.

If I had my pick of places to stay in Palm Springs, The Riviera would be it. That pool was just made for lounging, and the rooms look pretty snazzy too.

The Riviera Resort & Spa
1600 N. Indian Canyon Dr.
Palm Springs, CA 92262
760-327-8311

Shag’s Disney Cruise Line Art & Merchandise

Posted by The Tiki Chick in Shag and tagged with , , ,

So last weekend I was at Disneyland (again) and discovered to my dismay that the Adventureland glasses were out of stock (hopefully that’s just temporary). However I was delighted to find that Shag’s merch for the Disney Cruise line had made their debut at the Disney Gallery. Above is ‘Island Intermission,’ a limited edition giclee priced at $395.

I’m a bit more frugal than that, so I opted for the postcard set ($18) that included two cards of each of the four designs. There are those pirate kids again—I remembered them from Shag’s Pirates of the Caribbean stuff and from this diptych from his macabre show Autumn’s Come Undone.

Also on display were a coaster set, decanter, four different glasses, and two shirts (girls’ printed tee and an aloha shirt, seen below). I was kind of surprised to find all this there because the Disney blog said it would only be available on the ship.

The selection of items was pretty similar to what Disney and Shag rolled out for the Haunted Mansion’s 40th Anniversary a year and a half ago.

Since there wasn’t anything overtly tiki about all that I’ll also include Shag’s map of Disney World, with a tiki for the Polynesian Resort. This print and more will be released this summer as part of the park’s 40th anniversary celebration.