Friday, April 5, 2013

Movin' On Up: Finally, A Large Antique Mall Space, First Incarnation

I moved into a larger space at Southern Crossing Antique Mall this week. I still have my original booth this month but I'll give it up if it's too much to maintain both at once. (Likely!) This first incarnation was merely to fill it up, I'll be working diligently behind the scenes to give it a proper transformation.


In the future I'll be focusing on upcycled furniture, larger housewares, and original pieces for the antique mall spaces. Details on that will be shared next week, but in general, it'll help me to keep my online retail and local retail spaces separate while maximizing on the benefits each venue has to offer.


I've moved in and out of four different antique mall spaces between three different stores over the past two years. I've tagged hundreds of pieces of merchandise and moved dozens of heavy boxes of vintage merch around this city for this profession. It's hard work, but the flexibility and creativity keeps me coming back to it and working hard on improving and evolving every day!

What keeps you coming back to and/or selling vintage? While pricing items yesterday I overheard shoppers saying "looking at old stuff" just makes them "happy." It's rewarding to contribute to the shopping merriment.
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39 comments:

  1. I love it! This is definitely a booth I would stand in and peruse every little thing. I love your signs to visit you online. Do you have business cards to pick up?

    I also like your price tags - unique. And the sex sign. And the mail box. And the mugs holder.

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    1. Thank you! There are plenty of business cards to pick up in both booths. The "Sex" art is the last piece from my "toys behaving badly" line. I want to make more of 'em as soon as possible!

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  2. Hi. I love the new space, looks fantastic. I am a long time customer and fairly new booth owner at Southern Crossing. I have always enjoyed stopping by your booth to see what new treasures you've got. Congratulations on the new space.

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    1. Thank you for stopping by the share kind words on the blog, and of course, for always stopping by at SOCO. I really appreciate it! There will be many more oddities a' comin'.

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  3. It looks great! You are going to be able to do so much cool stuff with such a large space! I can't wait to see all the different things you do with it in the future.

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    1. I'm excited to keep playing with it :)

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  5. Looks great, Van! It's been a while since I've visited your blog - how are plans going for your brick and mortar store?

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    1. Hey again! The plans are on the back burner. I had partners for it, but now it's a solo venture. I'm thinking a simple, small space would be nice as my combination store/office but they're expensive/hard-to-find in the area I want to be in. I'll pounce if the spot/price is right. For now, it's nice renting out of Southern Crossing which has a huge, dedicated shopper base in addition to ample foot traffic. Even when I have my own space, I will rent space in Southern Crossing.

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    2. Oh yeh, and I can't reveal many details but I'm helping with fund raising for a collaborative vegan kitchen. It's an exciting project designed to help make selling/buying healthy food more accessible.

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  7. Way to go Van, best of luck with the larger stall.
    What keeps me going? Honestly I think it's in my blood, I've been surrounded by "older" stuff my whole life. I come from a poor family as a child every thing was second hand and from another era when others had the latest. I think my education in this profession has been happening my whole life. Despite the fact that I actually had a difficult childhood, something about all this "stuff" make me happy too.

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    1. We have a similar background in some respects, nostalgia is another thing that makes people happy to be surrounded by vintage.

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  9. Van, Congrats on the move. I too just moved into a larger space! I think what keeps me going the most is the "discovery" of items. I love shopping for new items but I love just as much to research and learn about the items and how they were used in days past. You're always learning in this business and it's one of the aspects of the business that I enjoy the most.

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    1. The hunt and learning aspects are definitely addictive. I like how it keeps all my skills sharp: photography, SEO, design, writing, blogging, marketing, it's completely creatively fulfilling. I see it as an artistic expression.

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  10. For me it's the whole package. The challenge of finding that special treasure, recycling, profit, ongoing learning, etc... What I like best is digging through old stuff. Even as a kid I would dig through Grandma's attic and out buildings. Some things leave you in wonder. Other items bring back memories.

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    1. The whole package really is very fulfilling!

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  11. Congrats! Your booth looks great!

    Finding vintage has always been a part of my life. We would spend weekends when I was growing up hitting yard sales and estate sales. My school wardrobe was entirely thrifted.

    Now I enjoy seeing what is out there, looking for goodies, and bringing those goodies to others who will appreciate them. I love taking pictures (something I had no idea I enjoyed), researching items (LOVE it), writing listings, and even packing and shipping. I love to hear from customers who had "this as a kid" or who always wanted "one of these".

    It brings me great enjoyment! :)

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    1. Thrifting and vintage have always been a part of my life too, it's in our blood, guess we couldn't have it any other way.

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  13. While only some of the items I sell are vintage, I do enjoy picking up older pieces and examining them at flea markets. I have been getting more and more into vintage costume jewelry. What I love about these pieces are the workmanship and history. The workmanship of vintage items, esp jewelry is incredible. They really don't make them like they used to. I also love the fact that an older item has a history that no new item can match. There seems to be an energy emanating from older pieces that is lacking in brand new items.

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    1. I do need to explore vintage jewelry more and want to make upcycled pieces as well. It's true, they just don't make stuff like they used to.

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  17. Do you keep inventory on your Thrift shops? We sell on eBay and just got a booth at the Antique mall in town and next up is another local Thrift shop. Just wondering if you keep track of every item on paper?

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I love reading your comments. Thank you for adding to the discussion! I always reply to any and all questions.

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