vintage dreams
May. 5th, 2011 10:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
holliI am going to Charleston, SC for the weekend, because my sister is graduating from college! (Which, holy hell, when did *that* happen? And my other sister's sixteen now, you say? WTF.)
I am overpacking extravagantly, because if you can't wear floaty vintage dresses in a genteel Southern city, where else can you wear them?
I haven't talked about this much anywhere online, but for the last year or so I have been thinking fairly seriously that I would like to start my own vintage store. I sell things on Etsy already, but that's pretty piecemeal, and I have very little room in my house for inventory, which makes things difficult. Having a store would give me the room to run a bigger online business as well, and it would make me really, really happy.
There's a vacant shop in my neighborhood that would be just right for it: a little corner store that used to be a ballet studio, so it's got big mirrors on the walls and lovely hardwood floors, and it's been sitting empty for at least two years. I've been having trouble finding out what the rent is (the landlord has proved elusive), but I think it would be a perfect location. It's walking distance from campus-- and, even better, from sorority row-- and across the street from an elementary school.
My dream shop would stock current, on-trend used clothes as well as vintage, to bring in students who wouldn't wear vintage otherwise, and it would feature art and jewelry from local makers. I'd paint it robin's-egg blue, and leave the door red. We would host events sometimes, too-- clothing swaps and craft shows and open mic nights. It would be heaven for me, basically.
Right now, I'm thinking that if I save all the money from bookselling, in 6-8 months I'll have a nest egg and I can start thinking about doing this for real. In the meantime, I just need to go to a lot of estate sales and thrift stores to build inventory, and sell as much as I can online, and get to know the business.
There's a substantial chance that this is a crazy pipe dream, I'm aware. But it's what I'm aiming for.
I am overpacking extravagantly, because if you can't wear floaty vintage dresses in a genteel Southern city, where else can you wear them?
I haven't talked about this much anywhere online, but for the last year or so I have been thinking fairly seriously that I would like to start my own vintage store. I sell things on Etsy already, but that's pretty piecemeal, and I have very little room in my house for inventory, which makes things difficult. Having a store would give me the room to run a bigger online business as well, and it would make me really, really happy.
There's a vacant shop in my neighborhood that would be just right for it: a little corner store that used to be a ballet studio, so it's got big mirrors on the walls and lovely hardwood floors, and it's been sitting empty for at least two years. I've been having trouble finding out what the rent is (the landlord has proved elusive), but I think it would be a perfect location. It's walking distance from campus-- and, even better, from sorority row-- and across the street from an elementary school.
My dream shop would stock current, on-trend used clothes as well as vintage, to bring in students who wouldn't wear vintage otherwise, and it would feature art and jewelry from local makers. I'd paint it robin's-egg blue, and leave the door red. We would host events sometimes, too-- clothing swaps and craft shows and open mic nights. It would be heaven for me, basically.
Right now, I'm thinking that if I save all the money from bookselling, in 6-8 months I'll have a nest egg and I can start thinking about doing this for real. In the meantime, I just need to go to a lot of estate sales and thrift stores to build inventory, and sell as much as I can online, and get to know the business.
There's a substantial chance that this is a crazy pipe dream, I'm aware. But it's what I'm aiming for.
no subject
Date: 2011-05-05 06:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-05 11:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-12 03:48 am (UTC)I recommend talking to SCORE, which is retired business people who want to help new business owners. They are fabulous, and I bet you'll find someone interested in your vintage! Contact your local SBA, they should have the hook-up.
I'm a non-profit, but we've been doing our own thing for a decade, so I'm happy to answer any businessy recordkeeping type questions you might have.