Hey! Ho! Let's Shop!

T-shirts, sure, but Ramones flip-flops? Though the band barely sold records in their heyday, the punk icons have become a mighty retail presence in their afterlife. What's behind their transformation from glue-sniffing rebels to tchotchke-hawking moguls?
Photo by Mark Weiss

Another day, another delivery of Ramones wear to the East Village home of Arturo Vega, the band's former lighting director and art coordinator. (He designed their eagle insignia.) "More merchandise," Vega says with a resigned smile, ripping open a box containing new T-shirts featuring the faces of Joey, Johnny, Dee Dee, and Tommy.

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