Fat Buddha Store Blog // All the News

Its hard trading just now, no-ones got money to spend and everyone is skint, me included But its good to know that us independants in Glasgow send customers to each other, just had a guy in this morning sent from Goodlife, fair enough it was only a £3 pair of laces he was after, but these £3 soon add up, yesterday the guys at Aspecto sent a guy up who bought a £100 Carhartt jacket.  £100 not to be sniffed at, the guy thn returned today and dropped another £70. In return i get lots of tourists, (we advertise on tourist maps) and when they ask about good shopping places in Glasgow i always tell them about Goodlife, Aspecto & Focus. So its festive cheer here and good on the independants and thanks to the guys at Goodlife, Aspecto & Focus

This coming year will see the bag section double in size, decided that the 'Manhattan Portage' bags will continued to be carried, but in more depth. We will carry most of the new styles and some of the classic fits and do each one in 5 or 6 colours, so should be sitting with about 30 or 40 options for you, should have the best instore range in the UK, will be landing instore about March. Eastpak is a brand i have been looking at for the past year and decided to order it for the store, also landing about March, but not the basic rucksack, the £40-£60 range, with great fabrics and some good shapes, so look out for it landing instore and online. Now for something a bit special, Eley Kishimoto has done a colab with Eastpak, only a few hundred of each bag for the UK, we have this range for Glasgow, don't think anyone else has it, but could be wrong, the bags are great, classic Eley design and will be lnding instore early next year. Eley Kishimoto EASTPAK

Nike Air Max 1 2009 “Year of the Ox” With the 2009 zodiac calendar focusing on the year of the ox, Nike has changed it up once again with their commemorative shoe to mark the event. While the Air Force 1 was utilized during the early inception for “Year of the” shoes, we’ve seen some different models as of late including the Wildwood 90 Free and most recently the Air Max 1. The highlight of the shoe is the direct reference seen on the heel with 3D rays centered around a golden ox. Whats your resoloution? Goodbye 2008. Fraser x

A clip from the forthcoming The Shawshank Redemption 2, starring Morgan Freedman and Tim Robbins: Ciao, Mark

Insert coin. Fraser x

USC, the fashion chain backed by Sir Tom Hunter, today became the latest high street name to enter adminstration. Branded casualwear chain USC has 58 stores, and Hunter's investment vehicle West Coast Capital is to immediately buy 43 of them out of administration. The remaining 15 stores wil close following the latest so-called "pre-pack" deal. The pre-pack will save the jobs of 1,127 of USC's 1,400 staff at the business which is based in Dundonald in Scotland. Bryan Jackson of PKF has been appointed administrator. "As has been well publicised retail operators are facing extremely challenging times. Given these circumstances this is a positive deal which retains the majority of jobs and shops," he said. USC in its day was a haven for bams, the place was mobbed, the one on Argyle Street was always rammed full, always seen guys getting chased out with 7 or 8 staff in hot pursuit, the guys who sold it to tom hunter for over £45 million must be having a grin int...

LV bullet... Fraser Vuitton

My rant for the day is early closing. Big sign on your door saying shut at 7pm, you boost down after work to get something only to find they have decided to close early, what's the script. Even worse store shuts at 6 you get there at quarter to and they are not letting anyone else in cause they close in 15 mins, you know exactly what you want but they wont let you, the rules are the rules, blah blah. All this credit crunch malrkey and people are shutting up early all the time, some dont even stick to the times on their door, might as well not put up an opening hours sign. Fair enough it might be quiet but try to stick by your opening times, slightly

Nike Zoom Kobe IV iD - Mike Epps + DJ AM from Freshnessmag.com on Vimeo . Fraser Bryant

Hi guys, this week I'm going to show you the process from black book to wall (or in this case wood). Above is a quick sketch in pen and below are the stages of getting it up on a wall. Above is the outline of the piece. Above is the pink fill for the bottom half. Above is the top fill(purple), blended into the bottom fill(pink). Above is the Black outline. Above is the 3D done in black. Above is the highlight done in baby blue. This was Christmas morning, and the paint i was using was... Black, Dek violet, Baby blue Monster colours and the pink was some old school Krylon can. Drop me a comment if you have any tips or ideas. thanks for reading Calum.

Among the first releases for 2009, Kidrobot will unveil their series 16 theme, KidPunk. An homage of sorts to various generations of the punk aesthetic, three versions are inspired by 1977, 1980 and 1984. Each features a similar outfit in 8-inch form. Slated for a January 8th, 2009 release at a price of £35. FraserRobot

Coming in early Jan, we will be stocking the Star Wars range of Prints from 'Under The Kitchen Sink', all block mounted and A4 size, selling for £30, hope you agree that the force is strong in this one, and please let the dark side tempt you.

Coming in early Jan, we will be stocking the Star Wars range of Prints from 'Under The Kitchen Sink', all block mounted and A4 size, selling for £30, hope you agree that the force is strong in this one, and please let the dark side tempt you.

Well, merry christmas to you all. Hope today is a great day for you all and everyone has a great big family/friends meal, drinks far too much mulled wine and falls asleep in front of the TV watching total crap on the box. Just to remind you, that Boxing Day bargains are to be had at the Buddha. Leslie and I will be on hand to get the banter going (or try to at least, our lack of humour doesn't help) and help you get what you need. There's up to 50% off on many items, the clothing is seriously discounted now and still fresh as. Not quite got all your Xmas stuff for people you thought you'd see next week? Fancy grabbing yourself a treat? Full range of sizes in clothes, mucho toys, great books, lots of paint, funky shoe paint, best hats around-so get yourself down early to 21 Bath St, Glasgow cause it's gonna be great. Now, normally my blog posts are rants and raves that cause my blood pressure to rise and our reader's eyes to roll or eyebrows to rise. Today, let's...

Coming in early Jan, we will be stocking the Star Wars range of Prints from 'Under The Kitchen Sink', all block mounted and A4 size, selling for £30, hope you agree that the force is strong in this one, and please let the dark side tempt you.

As reported in the BBC today , this has been months coming, and it shouldn't surprise you, they wont collapse, they will get bought out and be reformed somehow, they always do. Music, games and DVD chain Zavvi has gone into administration, Ernst & Young has announced, threatening 3,400 jobs. The troubled chain has been badly affected by the demise of Woolworths, which forced it to stop taking new orders via its website. Zavvi's main supplier is Woolworths' unit Entertainment UK (EUK), which went into administration on 27 November. All of Zavvi's stores should be open as normal on Boxing day, for its traditional post-Christmas sale. The retailer is the latest victim of the slump in High Street sales that has seen the administrators called in at tea and coffee specialist Whittards and menswear chain The Officers Club. It employs 2,363 permanent staff and 1,052 temporary staff. The problems encountered with EUK, and particularly its recent failure, have been too much f...

The only Christmas album for me ! Fraser the red nosed reindeer x

JJB Sports has closed five of its Qube stores as turmoil for the struggling chain continues to mount. It is reported to have closed stores today in Nottingham, Cardiff, Swansea, Blackpool and Leamington Spa. JJB had hoped to find a buyer for its loss-making lifestyle chain, which includes Qube and Original Shoe Company. A deal has yet to be done and no buyer has yet been confirmed for its health clubs business, which many have touted as vital for the future survival of the business. A spokesman for JJB confirmed that five Qube leases had been terminated. "Rents for the rest of the Qube store portfolio have been paid in full. This is part of the ongoing rationalisation of the business." JJB is also under scrutiny from the Office of Fair Trading over its off-loading of some of its JJB stores to rival Sports Direct. Cube must have been the worst shoe shop ive ever seen, a shop full of white trainers, all shite ones aswell, no wonder it went tits up, as for original shoe, ned cit...

Its going to be a bloodbath out there, big big names are all going to be going bust shortly, Envy was rescued again but it wont be long before it collapses again, i dont know who shops there, the ladies section is pure rubbish and the mens brands are in need of an overhaul. Whittards of Chelsea will go into administration by tomorrow, Zavi & The Officers Club are at deaths door, i hope the officers club does go as its shit, the whole premise behind it is shit and they sell shit clothing, rant over. Pity if Zavvi does go, was in over the weekend and they had some good stuff in there, seem to have diversified as of late and had a whole mixed bag, lot of clothing which surprised me. It also reported that fashion chain Monsoon has told suppliers that they need to offer "assistance and contributions" to ensure its stability, if i was into monsoon for money just now id be crapping myself. Abercrombie & Fitch sister brand Hollister is to defy the economic slowdown as it fo...

Quite a coup for the Goodlife guys, they got an interview with the legend that is THE RZA when he was in glasgow last, read it in full at their blog here . Wee snippet here, but check it out at the blog. How are you enjoying producing soundtracks for movies andalso acting? Producing soundtracks for movies has been a joy for me, a chance for meto really express my musical talent and acting in movies is the biggestego stroke you can get. I mean there’s nothing cooler than being a fuckingmovie star besides hip-hop. How did you get involved with the American Gangster movie? Well I did a movie called Derailed with Clive Owen and Jennifer Annistonand people thought I did good, they liked me. Then they called me in toread for the part for American Gangster, I read for the part. First of all I readfor a small part, then did my screen tests, but then they gave me a big part!Can’t beat that!!!

What makes a brand a brand, Levis, Nike, Disney & Coke all big brands, take it down a level you have Gap, Zara, Abercrombie & Emu all brands, next level you have Asos, Superdry, Bench & Reebok. Then you get guys like Sneaktip, Acapulo Gold,Worn By & Elwood, all supposed brands, ask the average person in the street, who these guys are, never heard of them, how can you be brand that no-one exept a tiny circle of streetwear buyers knows. People asume because they make t/shirts, stick their label on it and give it a name its a brand, i get 6-8 emails a week from some crew telling me about their new brand they have launched doing a fly range of t/shirts, they then want the t/shirt to sell for £30, you buy a £2 t/shirt, stick a £1.50 print on it, get your mom to stitch a label and viola you have a £30 T, indeed you have. We used t make our own t/shirts at flip, brand them up and sold them onto stores, so if i an do it anyone can do it, but your not a brand, your a guy doing T...

Had a squink in the window of the new Hellfire store on Queen street, its down towards Argyle St and on the same side as their existing unit. Firstly, what a great sign, it looks amazing while they haven't done much to fit it out from what was there, it looks great, some nice lil touches and the shop looks great. The brand mix seems to be spot on for Michaels customer and he was right to do this unit, take the higher end product out the west nile st store and give it space to look good and open it up to a wider audiene, hes taken a few chances here, Ed Hardy was a major surprise to me, but from what ive heard its selling fast & furious for him. Good to see an independant retailer doing well, and with 3 units in Glasgow, all with their own identity, wish him all the best. To think he started with the wee shop on West Nile St, now he has opened up 2 more big units, wish i had his cash, but hes out there doing things and making it happen, must admit im a bit jealous but power to ...

Hi guys, this week I'm doing a review on Transporter 3. The movie stars Jason Statham as Frank Martin he puts the driving gloves on to deliver Valentina, the kidnapped daughter of a Ukrainian government official, from Marseilles to Odessa on the Black Sea. On route, he has to contend with thugs who want to intercept Valentina's safe delivery and not let his personal feelings get in the way of his dangerous objective. To be honest it really wasn't that magical, and in my opinion it has nothing on Batman. If your up for a cheap thrill its worth your while going but don't expect too much. check out the trailer.

Told you about these crackers the other day, but just sold out the first delivery in 2 days, these pencils are a silly £5 and will be replenished on monday, just enough time for you to grab a pair. I love these things and if i wake up on Xmas morn and there aint a pair of these under the Xmas tree with my name wrote on it, then theres going to be a certain wife getting put over my knee and spanked. Had a bizarre customer today, who thought they were a bit 'passe', some people just confuse me, buy these on monday, every guy will love these for sure. Drumstick Pens from the guys at Suck UK. A Pair of penils with the drumstick end, great for killing time at the office or doodling. When trying to get some inspiration, nothing works better than belting out a drum solo with these pencils SUCK UK produce furniture, lighting, interior products and accessories. Design is mostly by Sam and Jude or selected by them from some of the best designers around the world. Suck UK make the only ...

Went to shot these guys last night.... They were really good. Not everyones type of music but have a listen anyway. Also check out my Flickr too. My Flickr And I got some pictures published. One word:Awesome

We have 4 VIP sets of tickets to give away for the Erick Morillo gig at the Arches on Sat night Colours Proudly Presents COLOURS XMAS PARTY SATURDAY 20TH DECEMBER THE ARCHES, GLASGOW FEATURING THE US LEGEND THAT IS... ERICK MORILLO (EXCLUSIVE 3 HOUR SET) This will be a massive night at the Arches and THE event of the festive season, if not the year. Don't miss it!! It promises to be unforgettable! To get your free VIP Tickets, (each set gets 2 of you in to the VIP bit at the arches) all you need to do is leave a comment on this post and then email leslie@fatbuddhastore.com and winners will be frawn at random, tikets can be picked up from Fat Buddha on Saturday. Big thanks go out to the guys at Colours, visit them at http://www.colours.co.uk/ , and Al at sneaker things http://www.sneakerthings.com/ .

"With 2008 coming to a close, Nike Sportswear looks towards the new year to make a splash in the sneaker world yet again. Within the preview NSW implements some of the more popular textiles and hybrids of the year including a Cortez Flywire, Current Air Max 90’s, Hybrid Boot, Footscape Woven and a slew of other releases including new and retro BW and Air Force 1 colorways." Fraser xxx