You started the store with a friend?
Yes, my friend Nicole. We met working at Enyce; she is a designer.
Did you guys have prior experience?
Not really. I had a space in an antique mall in Portland, Oregon--where I'm from--and I sold vintage clothes there. Then I got my mom into it and she does it now.
Before you opened, did you do any research?
We read a lot of books and we went to some classes, but the classes weren't that helpful. But they made us believe that we could do it--I think that was the most important thing. We had been talking about it for so long and then finally it's like, let's really do this.
A lot of books are too general, but this book called "Specialty Shop Retailing" is more specific.
How did you find a space?
We started looking around the neighborhood. One night Nicole decided to go for a rollerblade at midnight, and on her way home she saw this place. It actually had another vintage place in there but they had a for rent sign in the window.
What was it like when you opened?
People kept asking, "Aren't you freaked out?" But I said no; I trusted in our style. There are so many places out there that are too packed full of clothing, or they aren't decorated really well. Those things are really important, so we spent a lot of time deciding how we were going to design the store, and people really responded to it well. We don't keep tons of clothes so you have to push through everything. If you have to push through clothing at a vintage store, you might as well just go to a thrift store. We try to keep it really boutique-y.
How did word get around opening week. Did you promote or was it just word of mouth?
Pretty much word of mouth. We had a party, which was loads of fun. There were people there that I knew but didn't invite, and that was cool. They were spilling out into the streets. There were probably 200 people in here, and this isn't even 400 square feet.
Did you meet your sales expectations? Did you have any?
We didn't really have expectations, but I'd say we sold a lot more than we thought we were going to. The first week was one of the best weeks we've ever had, and we didn't do any PR, no advertising, nothing. People were walking in and they asked when we opened, and we'd say, "Today," and people would say, "Oh my god, I have to buy something now!"
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