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Page A-2 - She/ton-Mason County Journal - Thursday, Feb, 14, 201/9"
Bob Paradis, left, and Landon McAIlister, sold albums and T-shirts at sepa-
rate booths at the Olympia Flea Market. When themarket closed, the two
decided to join together as one business, Bobland, in downtown Shelton.
Journal photo by Gordon Weeks
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By Gordon Weeks
gordon@masoncoun cam
Bob Paradis and Landon McAllister
struck up a friendship while selling al-
bums and T-shirts, respectively, at the
Olympia Flea Market.
But homeless people congregating
in the downtown area were routinely
leaving feces in front of the market on
Thurston Avenue.
"It got disgustingly horrible," Para-
dis recalled. He added, "The public
didn't feel good about going there."
With the market closing in Septem-
ber, McAllister made a proposition:
why not join forces and found a store
together in downtown Shelton?
"The timing seemed to be right,"-
Paradis said.
%Ve shook hands and went for it,"
McAllister said.
The result is the birth of Bobland
on West Railroad Avenue near First
Street, an eclectic and colorful shop
offering thousands of records, racks of
colorful clothes, and pop culture figu-
rines. About 20 percent of the prints
are McAllister's designs.
"Records, T-shirts and collectibles
all gel," McAllister said.
Paradis calls himself "a natural
wheeler dealer," but adds, "I had no
dream I'd ever have a record store." He
said he is shocked teens are coming in
to check out the vinyl, which fell out of
favor with the advent of compact discs
in the early 1980s, but is now enjoying
a resurgence of popularity.
Paradis was born in Massachusetts,
but his parents moved to England
when he was 6; he considers himself
British.
Paradis was living in East Anglia,
home to two large U.S. Air Force bas-
es. That's where he met his wife, who
brought him to California in 1985.
Paradis discovered British motor-
cycles are plentiful and inexpensive
in California. Thus began a 42-year
career saving, salvaging and selling
them. Jay Leno was one of his clients.
But Paradis said online sales took
away much of his business, plus he
was getting bored.
"I got tired of being filthy dirty all
the time," Paradis said. In 2011, he
lost his motorcycle business and his
house.
Paradis has been collecting records
since childhood, much of it "off the
main drag music," including about
6,000 45s. He signed upfor a booth at
the Olympia Flea Market
"I found there was enough of us
old collectors were out there," Paradis
said.
"It was just like when I was doing
the motorcycles," he added. ' rou meet
fascinating people."
That's where he first encountered
McAllister, a 2000 Olympic High
School graduate who earned a Bach-
elor of Fine Arts degree at Central
Washington University in 2004.
"A college degree got me a job as a
pizza maker," he recalled with a laugh.
But McAllister soon found a way to
channel his talents as a screen printer
at 'Bud Bay Embroidery and All-Pro
Screen Printing inLacy,
"Those were the two companies that
got me into the trade," he said.
Four years ago, McAlister started a
screen-printing business in the back of
a Seattle skateboard shop. Two years
ago, he started his Land O Tees busi-
ness in the South Park area of Seattle.
At the same time, he was selling his
wares at flea markets. He plans to add
screen-printing to Bobland.
Growing up in Olympia, McAllister
said he had regarded Shelton as "red-
neck" town without culture. But he
said he felt naturally drawn to casting
his fortune in downtown Shelton.
"I wanted to prove there is cu!ture
out here and great-spirited people,"
McAllister said.
The customers range in age from
teenagers to people in their 80s.
"The town has really embraced it,"
Paradis said.
+