Dec 28, 2009

Word on the street: Tower shop specializes in hippie, Rasta clothingBy Bethany CloughFresnoBee.com

Tie-dye T-shirts, handmade jewelry and “Rasta wear” fill the new Free Bird Co. shop in the Tower District.

The store, at 506 E. Olive Ave., is the evolution of a business run by Doug and Linda Whisenant. The couple started selling airbrush tattoos and hats at carnivals and fairs, including the River Park farmers market, to make extra money. They expanded into clothing and decided to make it a full-time pursuit a little over a year ago.

Doug Whisenant left his job as an air conditioning technician and Linda Whisenant left her job at Duncan Enterprises, which since changed its name to iLoveToCreate.

The pair ran a 100-square-foot shop in Coarsegold during the tourist season and opened their 1,000-square-foot shop in Fresno about two weeks ago. Customers range from “old-time hippies that like to reminisce” to a younger generation that likes a similar style, said Linda Whisenant.

The store also sells prints of Marilyn Monroe and Elvis applied to decades-old wooden grape trays by a Kerman artist. They hope to turn a portion of the shop into a gallery and participate in the monthly ArtHop.

Although some other shops in town, like Brass Unicorn, carry some similar merchandise, Free Bird focuses mostly on tie-dyed and Rastafarian clothing.

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