What the Rock?
By Stephanie Fortener-Atwood |
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What the Rock?! boutique is your much cooler friend's living room occupied with, well, your much cooler friends. Located in the Short North, the unique boutique is owned by Mike Renner and Heather Ziegler. After the two Ohio natives met at Bernie's Bagels in 1994, they spent several years working at rock 'n' roll themed stores in San Francisco and Santa Cruz, California. Inspired by their work, the duo started the website www.whattherock.com in January of 2006. Among other rock-themed merchandise, the website specializes in bringing rock 'n' roll to a much smaller demographic in the form of baby onesies.
Photo: Christopher Atwood
"We wanted to have cool gifts for our friends' kids," said Renner. Since the birth of the website, Renner and Ziegler brought their vision back to Columbus and opened What the Rock?! in October 2006. By September 2008, they had outgrown their original home and moved the store to its current location at 1194 N High Street.
What the Rock?! carries over forty vendors, including several local artists. Sweet Stella Designs creates food-inspired jewelry with a vintage feel and Columbus Urban Threads, Mr. Pickles, and Surly Girl Saloon offer a wide variety of funky t-shirts. The store also partners with Columbus' Evil Empire Records, so the vinyl selection is expansive and local.
Other customer favorites include Ziegler's line of guitar pick earrings and necklaces, the Johnny Cash "Folsom Prison" onesie, and baby-friendly rockabye renditions of the Beatles, Nirvana, AC/DC, and Led Zeppelin, among others. The (punk rock vegan) chef in the family might enjoy Please Feed Me, and the artist will have hours of fun with the Gangsta Rap Coloring Book. Chock full of housewares, clothing, accessories, and books you won't find anywhere else, it's no surprise that What the Rock?! was voted Best Gift Store by the readers of Columbus Alive in 2008 and 2009.
In keeping with What the Rock?!'s support of local artists, Renner and Ziegler have enlisted artist and friend Bam Bam Grey from Surly Girl Saloon to create zombie- and rock-inspired murals for the store. Bam Bam has also been featured at What the Rock?! Gallery Hop events. In May, artist Stephanie Rond will be creating knuckle tattoo art: in case you want to fake 'badass' for a day, What the Rock?! sells temporary knuckle tattoos.
"If it's not rock and roll, it's fun, nostalgic, and creative," summed up Ziegler.
Originally Published: May 1, 2009
