DV8 owner spins around the world

2009-10-30T02:10:27Z

The recent closing of his DV8 Boutique in Midtown was rough. But Michael Afshar doesn't have time to dwell on that.

He's too busy DJ'ing his way through Europe right now. Considered by some to be a pioneer of San Francisco's underground house scene, Afshar — who entertains under the name DJ Skittles — is in St. Petersburg, Russia, after gigs in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Soon, he'll be spinning tech and electro house music in Moscow and Ukraine.

"I have been playing in different countries every week now," he e-mailed in between gigs. "I had played in many venues in the world in the past. This is me going back to one of the things I love the most: music and flying in airplanes."

The former U.S. Airways pilot ran a trendy clothing store in Midtown for about five years. He was one of the first tenants in the Marrs Building, once home to California Department of Transportation offices before being renovated into a blocklong, upscale retail space that opened in September 2007.

Anchored by Lounge on 20 at one end and Peet's Coffee & Tea on the other, that block of 20th Street, between J and K streets, is now one of the hottest in the central city.

But the even constant foot traffic wasn't enough to help Afshar's boutique survive the recession. Sales dropped 40 percent last year when state cutbacks hit and the full impact of the real estate crash was felt, he said.

Afshar opened the first DV8 in Hawaii in 2002 after being laid off by U.S. Airways. He moved to Sacramento and opened a boutique here in 2004, later moving to the Marrs Building.

Afshar was a good boutique operator who knew what he was doing, said Marrs Building owner Michael Heller of Heller Pacific.

But the store's expensive threads just weren't selling.

"Who's buying $150 jeans in this market? Nobody," Heller said. "His product didn't make sense."

Although some people had been willing to pay that much for jeans just a few years ago, Heller said.

"It's a rugged market out there, and people are watching their pennies," he added.

To cope, Afshar added less expensive items and reduced prices on 80 percent of his inventory. He laid off everyone, including the window cleaning company, and sold all of his denim at cost for awhile. But it wasn't enough to keep the store open.

"As a clothing retailer, we were bleeding — the same as all major retailers, like Macy's, JCPenney, Nordstrom and the rest," he said.

The store lost more than $100,000. Afshar signed over the lease on the 1,000-square-foot space to the building owners.

The struggle with the boutique pushed him full time into a profession he's pursued for 20 years. But here, Afshar said, he is just one more underappreciated and underpaid DJ.

"In Sacramento, they bring DJs from outside, but they never tap into local talent," he said.

A native of Iran, Afshar said he's finding that the industry is more stable in Europe and Asia than in the United States.

Now, he's traveling the world as a DJ. He said he makes it work by networking with other DJs and getting support from a booking agent and record label. People have listened to him spin music on his MySpace page and at clubs from Kuala Lumpur to Iceland. A CD for Salted Records is in the works, Afshar said.

Suzanne Hurt is a staff reporter for The Sacramento Press.

Boutique owner makes career change

2009-03-23T04:53:06Z

Michael Afshar, owner of midtown Sacramento clothing store DV8 Boutique, which has won local best-of kudos for its trendy threads, is closing shop. Sometime. Soon, he hopes.

Afshar, who was born in Iran and opened DV8 in Hawaii in 2002 after he was laid off as a pilot by US Airways, moved to Sacramento and opened the store at 26th and J Streets in early 2004. He was one of the first tenants in the MARRS Building, at 20th and J Street, when it opened in September 2007.

But now, he's eager to pursue his other passion: DJ'ing.

Spinning under the handle DJ Skittles, Afshar plays progressive and deep house, as he has for 20 years.

"I've been DJ'ing since 1989," says Afshar/Skittles. "I started at the Holy Cow in San Francisco, and I've played other places in San Francisco." He has also played in Toronto, Amsterdam, Cancun, Kuala Lumpur, Moscow, New York and Iceland, he says.

"Spinning records paid my way through college and flight school," he says. Afshar is a licensed pilot and flew as a first officer for US Airways until he was laid off during the post-9/11 collapse in air travel.

He was prompted to make the full-time switch to DJ'ing last fall, when he was signed to a San Francisco record label, Salted Records. But there's just one piece of business to take care of: Selling the store.

"I have a buyer, but banks don't want to lend money," he says. "There are people with money to invest, but they're very cautious right now, with the economy. I don't blame them.

"We'll just have to wait and see."

The option of being an absent owner just doesn't work with a boutique, which requires a personal touch, says Afshar.

"Having someone else mind the store doesn't work," he says. "They don't put their hearts into it. I had someone take over the store for a month over the holidays, when I was DJ'ing in Eastern Europe and Istanbul, but they made in a month what I can make in a three-day weekend."

Afshar said he had a moment in the Istanbul airport, with his bags at his side, when he thought about just walking away from the store and becoming a fulltime DJ. He'd done it before, escaping his native Iran as a teenager after its Islamic Revolution, and he's kept himself alive all over the world.

"I thought, 'I could walk away, I don't have to go back'," he says. "I got very close to that. But I chickened out. I have responsibilties to the landlord, to the bank. I couldn't do that."

In the meantime, the store will keep selling its in-demand fashions - business is decent, considering the economy, says Afshar - and DJ Skittles will be jetting off to Milan, Italy, in late April for a series of shows there.

"It's hard work," he says of the long distance travel and late nights of DJ'ing. "But it's a lot of fun."

To check out DJ Skittles' music, visit his myspace page.

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DV8 owner spins around the world

Boutique owner makes career change