AR-T’s owner Justin Sharp has officially purchased Electric Ghost, recently announcing the transaction that transpired a few weeks ago. Going forward, AR-T’s and Electric Ghost will be brother and sister companies operating under the same roof at Electric Ghost’s current location in SoMa.
Electric Ghost will remain a leading screen printer in town and continue to work out of the back of the 1218 S. Main St. location, while AR-T’s will remain a local T-shirt and apparel brand. Sharp plans to remodel the front retail area and completely revamp the shop, finally giving a storefront to the popular online-based brand.
Sharp has operated AR-T’s for the past five years and has been friends with Shannon and Brooks Tipton, who own and launched Electric Ghost in 2009, for years.
“It’s been a long, beautiful journey,” Sharp said. “I love SoMa and my heart is in SoMa and it made the most sense for me to take over.”
Originally, Sharp and Crying Weasel owner Alex Flanders had plans to open a store together when the Tiptons approached them about taking over the store. The acquisition largely became more of Sharp’s dream than Flanders’, and she moved on to open her own storefront on Third Street. When COVID-19 hit, however, all of those plans were put on hold.
Just in the past few months, as things started to come back to life, Sharp started to get the ball roling again. Almost a month ago, Electric Ghost officially closed and Sharp set to work on refurbishing the front of the space.
“I think the stores will complement eachother 100%,” Sharp said. “Electric Ghost will help AR-T’s brand be more visible to the state and beyond. I think AR-T’s will help bring in more custom printing clients for Electric Ghost. AR-T’s is already established and known, so I think coming together will help take each other to the next level.”
Sharp is currently working with a designer from Los Angeles on Instagram to remodel the shop and plans to host a soft reopening within the next month, but Sharp is saving the grand reopening for when the store is completely stocked and remodeled.
“I’ve been trying to build an empire one T-shirt at a time,” Sharp said.
For more updates, follow AR-T’s and Electric Ghost on Instagram.
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