By Ruth Ann Ruiz
The Post Newspaper Features Editor
Meet, Mr. Yaga, real name Joe Flores. He’s legendary on the island of Galveston. There are numerous urban myths floating around in the fog and mist of the sea that are attributed to the man who originated Yaga’s T-shirts and Mo Bettah Threadz.
The word Yaga and an outline of a human face with dreadlocks as hair are embossed on T-shirts, hats, store fronts, and entertainment venues up and down the Strand. The famous Yaga logo has been spotted as far away as Japan. That’s because at one time the T-shirts were for sale in Japan (according to Mr. Flores), which means it really did happen and it’s not a myth.
How in the world did he come up with the name Yaga? That’s a story that some think they know, which is where some of the urban legends come into place, but it’s Joe’s story and this is how he tells it.
“Yaga came from my oldest son and his friend. They would go around yelling “Yaga” at each other,” said Flores.
There is more to the story. The boys picked up the term Yaga from an “old man” in the alleys of Galveston who used the term as he talked about bottles of wine.
Flores had the chance to meet the senior gentleman and he liked the word Yaga. The facial design is a fusion of the senior gentleman and famous reggae musician Bob Marley.
At one point in his life’s journey, Flores had the honor of spending a lot of time with Marley, whose music he loves. Flores also likes Willie Nelson and has spent time with Mick Jagger, plus a few other well-known entertainers.
Flores wears his hair long drawn back in a ponytail. “My first job out of college was at American National that lasted about eight months. I had long hair and an earring. It was too rigid for me there,” he said.
His next stop was working for the Kelso Company, where what he was hired to do wasn’t what he ended up doing, “I saw that they owned some property on Offatts Bayou and I said to Rai Kelso, ‘hey I want to open a club on that property,’” said Flores.
His wish was granted, and he opened The Loft, a surfer kind of club.
For several years, Flores and his staff created videos of surfers and motorbike races which they projected on the walls of the club. “The guests just loved watching the videos on the walls,” Flores smiles as he remembers those years.
From there, his journey branched out to Aspen, Co., where he opened a French pastry shop, but you can’t really take an island man and expect him to be happy deep in the heart of the continent on mountain tops covered with snow, so he came back to the island and went into the clothing business.
First, it was a shop called Outfitters, which sold beach wear and beach items. He grew that business and opened Ocean Rhythms, another retail store. From there he moved down to the Strand when George Mitchell was revitalizing the area. “I liked his idea of bringing back the historic buildings for a historic shopping district,” said Flores
His first store on the strand was called “Cruisin on the Strand” and he sold T-shirts. “This is when I began to take the name and branding seriously,” said Flores. He also opened a Neals’ cookie shop.
Then came a store he named Hot Tropics in 1986. But that name was already being used, so he had to come up with another name. That’s when Yaga was born and he launched Yaga Café, which opened in 1989.
The popularity of his idea and design drew contracts from Dillard’s and Macy’s and other specialty shops. “It took seven years to build up to roughly $25 million,” said Flores.
What happened next? Well, Mr. Yaga just wasn’t much for going public with his soulful design, but he had taken on investors who owned more of it than he did, so they said they were going to take it bigger, and Mr. Yaga went to the beach in Miami.
He also went to beaches in Jamaica and Bali and other beaches around the world. He also lived for a little bit in Southern California.
Then the winds and sand of Galveston called him home. He brought back ideas for his clothing designs from wherever he had traveled. He even brought back four surreys from Bali (The one in the photo is the only one that has survived traversing on the streets of Galveston).
“I had the idea of opening up the café and store fronts,” Flores explains as he points to the huge doors allowing for indoor/outdoor shopping, dining, and drinking experiences. “I brought this idea back from my travels to other places.”
A BOI (Born On the Island) at St Mary’s Hospital, Flores grew up learning life in the streets and at the beach. “I pretty much grew up in the ghetto,” said Flores. His first childhood home was in Magnolia homes at 14th and the Strand. From there his family moved to a couple different homes always in the same general area.
Kirwin High School had the honor of educating Flores. He focused on athletics and academics and mostly enjoyed school. Outside of school time, surfing was his pastime. Sacred Heart Church on Broadway was his childhood place of worship and continues to be so today.
While finishing his degree in marketing at the University of Houston, he married and he and his wife brought two sons into the world. One is living in Europe working in the entertainment industry. The other is on the island with his own island style clothing and beach item shops.
Mr. Flores is retired now, though he does stop in to check on the printing of colors for the shop on the Strand. He gets up before the sun and spends time on the beach. He is surrounded with friends, enjoys the island lifestyle and knows all the island folklore.
What about the future? He has lived his life close to his heart and he plans to continue living his life guided by his heart and soul.
2 comments
Very good story, and perfect for the many of us who watched Joe’s mind a work,
On correction. I believe you mean to write Rai Kelso rather than Rick Kelso. Rai
was the mentor of a lot of young business people in Galveston….Beno Deltz was
another.
Yaga was an awesome place to work in the late 80’s early 90’s. It’s still my favorite job because of the brand, but more importantly, the people I worked with. We worked long hours but it didn’t matter, we had a BLAST every day! I left before the expansion but I was there for the start of Yaga Sport, which was a couple blocks down The Strand, and Junkanooz, which was upstairs. Junkanooz could be described as Yaga’s personal TJ Maxx. We sold slightly irregular Yaga items along with overstock and out of season, less popular items. I could go on and on about my days at Yaga. Joe was as cool as they come. His wife, Diane, was really nice as well. At any rate. great article. It brought back fond memories. THANKS!