New "lifestyle store" combines vintage clothes, nostalgia, tattoos, iconic arcade games and Damien Hirst art
A new "lifestyle store" has opened in Birmingham has opened where customers can buy vintage clothing, browse rare memorabilia, get tattooed and pierced as well as marvelling at original Damien Hirst artwork.
Rascals Lifestyle is run by three friends whose individual passions have created an Aladdin's Cave of pop culture in Great Western Arcade including a Streetfighter arcade machine which is proving popular with passers-by taking the chance to relive their mispent youth.
There are also movie and music posters and a host of vintage toys, games, Americana and collectables.
Five of Damien Hirst's iconic 2011 skateboards make the shop one of the few places in the Midlands where the public can see the great artist's work.
Leon Jennings, Lee Harrison and Steven Hughes combined forces and interests to create a store they believe is the first of it’s kind in the UK.
Lee Harrison said: "The combination of handpicked vintage, streetwear, trainers, accessories aswell as tattoo and piercing is new to Birmingham.
"The shop reflects our individual passions, and somewhere we think everybody who visits, no matter the age or interests, will have something they find interesting.”
The 37-year-old added: "The five original skateboard decks by the artist Damien Hirst, help summarise the lifestyle store.
"Much like the artist Hirst, Rascals Lifestyle is colourful, edgy and unique. And the new tattoo and piercing aspect is completely new to the iconic Victorian Great Western Arcade."
Leon Jennings, a tattoo studio owner and the founder vintage brand Rascals Vintage, said: "When we were creating the Rascals Lifestyle Shop I knew I wanted something very visual and stimulating. Something that, when you walk in, there’s so much to look at and take in’
"We’ve got some really interesting items in the shop, which will constantly change, meaning new items, pieces and clothing regularly. We have handpicked vintage items from the other side of the world mainly the States, including rare single stitch 80s and 90s movie promo tee’s, to premium items, and trainers which are impossible to get from the usual stores."
The Great Western Arcade was built by the Great Western Company in 1876-1877 and was strongly influenced by Joseph Paxton’s Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace in 1851.
Lee Harrison, who also manages Colmore Row bar Henman and Cooper has helped create concept venues like Theatrix and Levana in the Arcadian Centre, said the historic arcade was their first choice for the shop's location.
He said: "We were delighted the Great Western Arcade welcomed our ideas for Rascals Lifestyle because there is nothing else like it around, especially in Birmingham City Centre.
"Having the vintage clothing alongside the tattoo studio, and with added services such as trainer cleaning, unique collectibles and retro games is a unique mix and is why we call ourselves a ‘lifestyle store’.
Business partner Steven Hughes, 35, said: "We are a little nostalgia fix for the people passing, with old toys they might not of seen for 20 or 30 years. We’ve even got an old street fighter machine, which every generation of people seem to love.’
"People can walk-in and have a tattoo or book an appointment. We have a private room for piercings and more private tattoos downstairs, or just pop in and have a browse at our art, collectibles, clothing and trainers."
For more information about Rascals Lifestyle visit the store’s Facebook and Instagram pages.
