Story Tools

Email this story | Print this story

Indexes

Today's Stories

Last 7 Days

Top Blogs

• Dealing the dark

• Some Galt residents blast city's proposal to boost commercial zones

• Galt High plans to use sound to ward off troublesome gulls

• Lodi bomb squad officer retires after 24 years with department

• Lockeford could get nearly 500 new homes by late 2008

• Regional Roundup

• Researchers sought to document San Joaquin County's Japanese legacy

• Autopsy results: Flag City victim was shot three times

• Theft of copper continues to torment farmers

November 21st, 2009

• Logbook

• Holiday drive spreads cheer to U.S. troops

• Galt High students want board to approve open-campus policy

• Poisoning victims remain hospitalized

• Expert: Half a mushroom cap can be deadly

• Tokay grad files claim over Lodi's Grape Bowl

• Lodi Middle School holds annual Turkey Trot

• Regional Roundup

• No motive or suspect in shooting

• Sacramento cop arrested for alleged kidnapping

November 20th, 2009

• Acampo woman killed

• Salvation Army Kettle Kickoff

• Advocacy groups sue East Bay Municipal Utility District over Pardee expansion

• Regional Roundup

• Galt plans to help residents with energy-efficient projects

• Stable southeast of Lodi approved

• One year after a heart attack, Lodi's Judy Mims thanks rescuers

• National Guard troops return home in time for the holidays

• Real estate market gets on more solid ground

November 19th, 2009

• Operation: Christmas

• Logbook

• Suspect arrested after hiding in fridge

• Chase ends in crash

• Galt Joint Union High School Distric hires new superintendent

• Sales tax hike yields dividends: 5 new officers join Galt Police

• Lodi Unified School District board votes to cancel summer school for 2010

• Water surges in Mokelumne River yield more salmon

• Lodi City Council will consider redevelopment next June

• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22

• Corrections

November 18th, 2009

• Regional Roundup

• Paranormal group conducts second investigation of building

• Congress allocates money for local water projects

• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react

• Lodi man finds wife's ashes during police display of stolen property

• Galt City Council rejects study on rent stabilization

November 17th, 2009

• Paying tribute to a Lodian

• Lodi Budget and Finance Committee to look into ways to save money on employee benefits

• Regional Roundup

• Decision on summer school expected at tonight's Lodi Unified School District meeting

• Clements gets free water rescue boat

• Redevelopment to be discussed by Lodi City Council again

• Court reinstates death penalty for killer of Lodi grad

• Clarification

November 16th, 2009

• Correction

• Public Meetings

• City Council 'triple-dog dared' to ditch cars, use Lodi buses

• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi

• Lodi's First Sip event showcases area wineries' latest vintages

• Three members of Lodi-area family fall ill after eating poisonous mushrooms they reportedly found at Lodi Lake

• Regional Roundup

November 14th, 2009

• Galt school district narrows superintendent search to one

• Regional Roundup

• Despite budget cuts, some Lodi Unified School District salaries continue to rise

• Watchful neighbor in Lodi helped bust suspected burglars

• New Galt city manager juggles job, family

• Despite an increase in homeless students, school districts look to bolster enrollment, raise revenue

• A first look at 2009 vintages at Lodi's First Sip wine-tasting event

The following stories have received the most reader comments during the last 7 days.

• The country's mess is our fault (163)
• Obama is not a moderate (130)
• Sarah Palin's book hits the shelves: Locals react (70)
• Lodi City Council plans to cap number of taco trucks at 22 (48)
• The haves should help the have-nots (30)
• Public health care is a Christian option (29)
• Tokay in, traveling to unbeaten No. 3 Grant for football playoffs (25)
• Government-run health care is a bad idea (17)
• Young woman fatally shot at Acampo home (17)
• Sierra Adventure store to close after four years in Downtown Lodi (16)

ADVERTISEMENT

Dealing the dark

New Lodi business offers everything Gothic

It's too late for Valentine's Day, but Mother's Day is around the corner.

How about getting Mom some suckers with a worm in it?

Or some "Death Mints?"

How 'bout some nail polish called "Rigormortis?"

Perhaps a purse, clothes or mouse pad with an "evil fairy" on it?

You can get these and a whole lot more at a downtown Lodi business called Gothic City. It opened a week ago on Pine Street.

Owners Sandy and George Smith anticipate a large following among teens and twentysomethings as they offer gothic and punk clothes, make-up, body jewelry — you name it.

All the accessories for the "Goth" lifestyle are available here in Lodi.

"If you want blue hair, you'll put it in your hair," co-owner Sandy Smith said while describing "Punky Colour."

Gothic City has belts with skulls and other Goth apparel in downtown Lodi. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

Although Gothic City isn't for everyone, neighboring businesswoman Lorrie Harper isn't concerned.

"They could have done it in a different way," said Harper, who owns Kingdom of Four Paws. "It could have been scary. The store is done very decently."

Sandy and George Smith, who have lived in Lodi about 25 years, opened Gothic City on March 7 on Pine Street, just a skull's throw west of the Lodi Arch.

Sandy Smith said she first intended to sell fairies, but her goal evolved to a lot more than that. She combed the Internet and found all sorts of gothic and punk items. She ordered them, and now she's selling them in the store.

"All the teenagers are going to be (shopping here)," Sandy Smith said. "There's no competition in Lodi."

Daughter Chrystal added, "All my friends have to go to Stockton."

Chrystal Smith prefers punk to Goth, but she has three or four sisters-in-law, plus their friends, who are heavy into everything Gothic.

"They've been trying to get me to go to Gothic clubs in Modesto and Sacramento," she said.

The Smith family said they have received positive feedback from young people who come in to browse and shop. One man, about 19 years old, told the Smiths he had 14 body piercings. One ear was so heavily pierced he needed stitches to close the wound. He also had several piercings on his chin.

Eyeliner pencils and eye shadow can be purchased at Gothic City to accommodate a more Goth lifestyle. (Brian Feulner/News-Sentinel)

"It looked like nails were coming out of his chin," Chrystal Smith said.

The male customers seem to shop for body jewelry such as ear gauges and eyelets and jewelry for their navel, tongue and nose, Chrystal Smith said. Women want fish-netted shirts, lip rings and "industrial bars" that enter through two parts of their ear.

Boys want to buy knives, although a sign on the glass cabinet strictly says that customers must be at least 18 years old to purchase a knife.

Both genders enjoy the Manic Panic make-up, where they can paint their face white and add dark colored make-up, Sandy Smith said.

"Most of the kids come from pretty wealthy families," said George Smith, who retired from Pacific Gas and Electric Co. three years ago. "Most of the make-up is all upper end."

One day recently, a woman bought some punk make-up for her daughter, George Smith said.

"As long as my daughter keeps her grades up," George Smith recalled the customer saying.

Harper, the Kingdom of Four Paws owner, calls Gothic City an opportunity to add variety to Lodi. "It adds one more boutique for downtown," she said.

Contact reporter Ross Farrow at rossf@lodinews.com.