Waterford — Keith "Golly" Bishop started collecting old fabrics as a kid, eventually amassing a huge treasure trove of vintage bed sheets, pillow cases and curtains with images ranging from Road Runner to Batman to Wonder Woman.

"I thought that everybody collected comic books," Bishop recalled. "I figured that if I could collect one thing people weren't collecting that I would get rich."

The collection did little but collect dust in his mother's Waterford attic until one day Bishop sorted through the fabrics thinking he would finally just throw them all out.

Then the Waterford High School graduate saw an old Star Wars sheet, and the thought hit him: "If those were T-shirts they would be so cool." So he started making his own shirts around 2003 by sewing old fabric to existing tops and gaining a lot of attention from friends who loved the look.

The concept didn't blossom into a business until 2008, however, when Bishop was laid off from his teaching job in New York City. During the summer, while he was still getting regular paychecks, he decided to launch his own shirt brand.

GoLLy NYC was born.

"They are the coolest T-shirts in the galaxy," he said. 

And it was a skyrocketing start, as The New York Times featured his story on the front page in 2009 when he was selling out of a kiosk at Manhattan's Chelsea Market. He later opened another store in the Artists & Fleas market in Brooklyn, and for a time had as many as six employees.

Then, about a year and a half ago, business suddenly hit the skids, a downslide that Bishop blamed on a stronger dollar and subsequent dip in tourism spending as well as his own resistance to selling on the Internet. At the same time, landlords were asking more money for rent, and the business became unsustainable.

So Bishop decided to pack it up in June and move home to Waterford, where the quality of life was better and he could rent a kiosk at the Crystal Mall cheaply compared with New York City.

"I wanted to give it one last go," Bishop said.

He opened the mall kiosk in October, Bishop said, and business has been a bit slow — partly because the concept is so new to the area and partly because the Christmas buying season hasn't geared up yet.

"People walk by and think they're seeing a screenprinted T-shirt," Bishop said, the kind that can be bought cheaply at a variety of other stores. "Real vintage makes all the difference in the world."

Bishop takes solid-color T-shirts and then, right at the kiosk within about 10 minutes, can sew a vintage image on the front from a variety of options from which buyers can choose. Some of the top requests include Star Wars, Speed Racer, villains such as the Joker from Batman, Pac Man and pro wrestlers.

Shirts go for $24.99 for adults and $17.99 for children — significantly less than Bishop was getting in New York. In addition to custom orders, Bishop has a wide assortment of premade T-shirts, all of which can be thrown in the regular wash, which eventually leads to a fraying effect similar to cut-off jeans.

Most customers, he said, range in age from 25 to 45. Anyone younger usually wants something more current, he said.

"I figure I've made over 15,000 T-shirts over the last seven or eight years, and they're all over the world," he said.

Filling a nostalgic niche, Bishop still finds old fabric at yard sales. But a lot of people are asking for more money for such material than they used to, he said.

"It's tricky to find the really good stuff," Bishop said.

Damien Ficarra of New London was one potential customer at the mall one day earlier this month.

"I love vintage stuff," Ficarra said.

"I pity the fool who doesn't have one," Bishop countered.

l.howard@theday.com

Twitter: @KingstonLeeHow