Our First Year and The Custom Bar

It seems incredible really, but after trading online for what seems like a decade (probably more like 7 years), it was almost 1 whole year ago that Balcony Shirts opened up on the High Street. Incidentally, the High Street of our hometown; Uxbridge. The custom T-shirt printing website (a work in progress).

Uxbridge gets a lot of stick, not least from me, but really, and honestly, I actually like the place. I like the way Windsor Street (where we are) with its 500 year old pubs nestles in the shadows of a monolithic JJB Sports. I like the way an Irish drunk will grab you by the arm and tell you you have lovely hair. I like, in a masochistic kinda way, the fact that Reebok wearing, gold sovereign ring toting, Staffordshire-Bull-Terrier walking Kevs own the high street but effete indie boys, tattooed emo kids and Brunel intellectuals are always (half) willing to give a bit back. Not a lot back, granted. But a bit.

Anyway, barring some sort of natural disaster, or a fire-bombing, it looks like we should survive our first year. It's been good. Hard work, but good. For those that are familiar with our shop, we have just built a "Custom Bar" in the back section, where patrons will be able to design their T-shirts and have them printed in front of their eyes. It should be good and will hopefully increase trade a little during our next 12 months.

Thanks to everyone who's popped in, had a chat, bought something. We hope to have some surprises in store for our 1st Birthday.

Balcony Shirts - keeping Uxbridge High Street a little bit weird, and defiantly independent, since 2009.
xx

You hum it, we'll play it.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words and in this case it's probably true, not least because the man playing the trumpet should be behind the counter in the 'Scoffs' sandwich shop opposite juggling with bits of bread, and the man playing the guitar should be behind our counter doing whatever it is that he does there. To name the guilty parties it's Geno on trumpet and Leigh on guitar, and it gives us chance to mention the fact that we can now get musical instruments and accessories in the shop to order. We got Geno his trumpet and he loves it. He's probably blowing it at the moment. Who can blame him?

AS SEEN ON T.V.

Tuesday morning at Balcony Towers, and great is the excitement thereof as a television advert for the 'Help For Heroes' Appeal is being filmed in the street outside our shop. In the pursuit of shameless self-publicity the t-shirt team revealed themselves to be hopeless opportunists by donning Balcony t-shirts and sunglasses then performing high fives as the Army were being filmed marching past our front door. It should be on T.V. throughout October so look out for us - we're the slightly awkward looking blokes in Balcony t-shirts and sunglasses performing high fives outside the Balcony Shirts shop.

ANARCHY IN THE UKE - EH?

According to Queen Lili'ukalani, who as I'm sure you know was the last reigning monarch of Hawaii, the word ukulele means 'the gift that came here'. Others say that it's Hawaiian for 'jumping flea'. Either way there is no cooler instrument in our not-so-humble opinion, and strange as it may seem we've got some in our Uxbridge shop for as little as £16.99 along with various other pieces of magical musical merchandise. Well, Hawaii not?