January 2008 Archives
BuyCincy is excitied to announce a new segment. We will be coming to you, the people of Cincinnati, and asking you what your favorite locally owned business is.
As a special kick off to this new segment, BuyCincy is honored to announce that the first article has been written by Bill Donabedian, the Managing Director of Fountain Square, and the Co-founder of the Midpoint Music Festival
Be sure to check back in the next few days to see what Bill's favorite local spot is.
::Best of Cincinnati
The only thing better than a showroom full of snazzy furniture is a showroom full of snazzy furniture you might actually be able to afford. Well, maybe one thing is even better than that - free beer and wine at such a place. So, yeah, we had a good time at the Joseph Williams Home preview party last Friday. The atmosphere was great, the DJ kickin' and the couches, well, comfortable. We can't wait to go back.
Welcome to edition two of Sale Sunday. This week brings with it only a few new sales, but worthwhile ones all the same. If you are a shop-owner and are interested in having your sale appear in Sale Sunday, contact us at kristi@buycincy.com. Continue reading for sale updates on Sara Benjamin's, Park+Vine, and Shoetopia.
I have the misfourtune of reporting my second set of bad news in a week. Visconti & Lechler Pharmacy in College Hill has closed after 42 years in business. After decades of chasing chain pharmacies out of College Hill the competition from chain stores in other communities just got to be too much. Visconti & Lechler has been an institution in College Hill for decades and was still run by Ralph Visconti Jr., the son of the founder.

The weekend is here, and with it comes the end of January. Its almost surreal that we're already a month into 2008, isn't it? Please keep in mind that if your organization/band/art gallery/restaurant/store is having any events in the future we'd love to help get the word out. Send us an email at dan@buycincy.com. Hit the jump for this weekend's recommendations:
What's the deal?
Looking for high quality textiles and beads? Look no further than Cincinnat's own world renowned, St. Theresa Textile Trove. Founded in 1994 by two sisters (Terrie and Becky) in Over the Rhine, St Theresa is own and operated only by women who are all highly knowledgable in and passionate about quilting, sewing and beads. St. Theresa offers a wide selection of fabrics, the owners say, the chain stores are "too scared to carry" including fabrics from Japan, India, France and Guatamala, and an international selection of tride and true beads with a large selection of African beads.
::Embrace Sweets
Edit: This is why we love our readers. Maya brought to our attention that this Friday IS Final Friday, so after this weekend's preview party, it should start normal operating hours soon!
What's the deal?
Party planning is no easy feat, especially when the party is a wedding reception. Want to mark one task off of your growing check list? Joyce's Tasty Cakes, located in Hamilton, has your dessert table covered.
Offering a range of cookies, candies, and cakes as varied as the people who order them, Joyce's is your sweets solution. Want your daughter's birthday celebration to include a castle shaped cake, complete with towering spires and edible greenery? Joyce's can handle it. Need a Christmas present for a finicky friend? Joyce's Tasty Cakes can confect a myriad of items for them.
BuyCincy.com is sad to report that it appears that Johnny's toys in Greenhills has closed its doors forever. The location in Covington remains open. So please continue to visit them there. For directions visit www.johnnystoys.com.
Johnny's toys has been a very important part of the lives of many children in Cincinnati and it will be missed.
Please visit the forum at buycincy.com to share your favorite Johnny's memories and to discuss what it's closing means to you.
Another weekend has crept up on us, with a few activities to keep us busy. Please keep in mind that if your organization/band/art gallery/restaurant/store is having any events in the future we'd love to help get the word out. Send us an email at dan@buycincy.com. Hit the jump for this weekend's recommendations: BuyCincy is pleased to announce the addition of two new interns on the site: Dan Johnson, and Kristi Papin. Dan is a student at the University of Cincinnati majoring in Linguistics. Kristi joins us from Wright State University where she is pursuing a degree in Integrated English Studies with a focus in Creative Writing. Check back soon for updated bio pages.
How would you like to join BuyCincy.com? We are currently looking for two additional interns to work the East side of Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Please see our job board to apply.
It was a sad sad day when Corryville's Buzz coffeeshop closed its doors in January of 2004. The comfy couches and hot coffee downstairs combined with a surprising used CD collection upstairs made it the quintessential college-area coffeehouse. However, good news is in store. Almost exactly four years after Buzz closed its doors for good, a new coffeehouse is set to open up in the same space, TAZA. The not-for-profit coffeehouse hopes not only to become the type of college hangout Corryville has been missing since Buzz left, but also become a positive force in the neighborhood and beyond.
Our coffee sales will enable us to make community happen inside the walls of TAZA and impact our community outside the walls of TAZA. Inside our walls TAZA is a home away from home - a place to meet up with old friends and make new ones. Outside our walls we will use our resources to support organizations that are positively impacting our local and global community.
What's the deal?It seems some folks can be creative in just about anything they do, whether it is designing cars or designing t-shirts. This seems to be the case for downtown resident Bryan Johnson, who last year moved from an auto design position in Detriot to start his own t-shirt company here in the Queen City. The venture, MyTeeGuy, is the culmination of Bryan's interest in graphic design and 18 years of experience in airbrushing. MyTeeGuy has already helped to design and produce tees for businesses such as Tony's 8th St Deli and organizations such as the Christ Church Cathedral, but Bryan hopes to break into the consumer market by selling his graphic t-shirt designs through the MyTeeGuy website, and hopefully soon through local boutiques.
You may not know it, but locally owned and operated ICB Audio & Video has been operating for over 30 years right in the center of Cincinnati. With countless professional installations under their belt, Cincinnatians have ICB to thank for making our town more enjoyable to look at and listen to.
For example, if you've ever attended Party in the Park down on the river, ICB handled the sound system installation for P&G Pavilion. Or, if you've strolled through the doors of the theater-turned-church, Eastside in Milford, a top-notch audio and visual experience is delivered, courtesy of ICB. However, one of their most recent and largest undertakings was revamping the heart of downtown: Fountain Square.

We're very happy to have Cincinnati independent record store extraordinaire, Shake-It Records, drop some music knowledge around the BuyCincy grounds. Check back for regular columns from Billy Carter of Shake-It.
(And 1 Sentence about each of them)
-this is the sound your subconscience will hear as you exhale the very last breath of your life.
-Nick Cave and 3 other lumberjacks/homeless men murder their instruments via love gone wrong.
-an audio stomachache of beautiful dis-tastefulness.
-two dorks sat in their apartment and made a really crappy sounding jigsaw puzzle of sounds: Genius.
-regular fellas make exceptionally good music minus dip-shit fashion trends (Got that Interpol?)
-if a giant heard of storming elephants played electric guitars....and worshiped Motorhead.
Well, the New Year has arrived; complete with over-reaching resolutions and a dash of wintry weather. With the New Year comes the opportunity to resolve to get out more and enjoy what Cincinnati has to offer. We encourage artists of all kinds (musicians, actors, artists) to let us know if you have an event planned that you'd like to share with us! Buy Cincy will be offering different weekend options every week for its readers and what better weekend to start than the first of the year? Hit the jump to find our recommendations

BuyCincy is proud to team up with Bughouse Video, "Cincinnati's only independently-owned arthouse video rental store" for a BuyCincy exclusive column. The crew from Bughouse will be stopping by on a regular basis to give us their picks for new releases, hidden gems, or anything they think you might dig.
This week, we asked Bughouse to give us their favorite releases of 2007.
Bughouse Favorite Releases for 2007
We at Bughouse feel so
fortunate to select our favorite DVD releases from 2007 - the film
critics only get the last 12 months to choose from - but we get to
choose a film if it's been released on dvd during
2007...could be Spiderman III or it could be a classic 1950's Kurosawa
that is finally making its DVD debut. With that said, here they are in
no particular order:
1) Lives of Others - The acting, the story, the emotion...yep, it's a true cinematic winner
2) Children of Men - A story that is just a little too real makes this sci-fi thriller work for us
3) Paul Lynde Halloween Special - You can guarantee that we'll be the only ones with this on the top of our list! It's that ridiculous
4) Volver - Good, but also
because it's the latest Almodovar...not his best, but still quirky with loads of camp
5) Flushed Away
- Anything that comes from the Aardman studios is bloody brilliant:
Rats in the sewer fighting against a diabolical toad and his
French/ninja/cousin frog is no exception (plus our 4 year old loves it
too)









