Having a vintage booth has always been a pipe dream of mine. But I thought that’s all it would ever be. I’ve heard of how competitive it can be to get into different vintage malls and that you might be on a waitlist for a year or more. At the end of last summer, I had been thinking again about having my own booth, but I assumed it wouldn’t be so easy.
I started looking into what it would take to do a vintage pop-up shop in my garage once or twice a summer. That looked daunting and I didn’t think I could get my garage to look boutique cute because it’s primarily used as my husband’s wood shop. So I decided to look into the application process for a vintage shop near me.
Never having had a booth before the biggest thing I would have to do for the application was set up a mock display in my house so that they could get an idea of what my style was and what it would look like if I had a booth in their shop. That was relatively easy since we had recently bought a large hutch for our dining room and I was using it for dishes and decor. I also had plenty of vintage items around the house to incorporate that were my own and from my vintage Etsy shop. So I set up my best display snapped some shots and sent in my application.
To say I was impatient was an understatement. I knew it might be months before I would hear back, but truthfully I was more unsure that I was actually what they were looking for in a vendor. So I put my application in on a Sunday, and by Tuesday I was emailing just asking what their process looks like after applying and if I was what they were looking for in a vintage seller. The manager was very sweet and assured me that yes, my style was a good fit for their shop and she intended to reach out to me that week. They had a spot opening up and planned to offer it to me. I about burst I was so excited! I went in a few days later to see the available space. I paid my first month’s rent and signed a lease agreement that day.
My lease wouldn’t start for a little over a month so I had some time to get some furniture pieces to display my items and to bulk up my inventory. However, a little challenge was that 5 days after I was going to get my space we would be leaving for our week-long vacation to the Grand Canyon. So that made moving in very tight. I gave myself a deadline to get fully moved in in one afternoon. With some help from my husband and some amazing friends, I was able to do it! It was pretty fun to be able to check in throughout our vacation and see people buy items throughout the week while we were gone.
One of my favorite things is the online portal that they use to give real-time updates on sales. The program is called Go Antiquing. You pay a few dollars a month and you get an update every evening if you made any sales that day. You can also log in throughout the day and see how sales are going. It’s really handy for making sure you’re staying on top of inventory in your booth. I’ve sold a few side tables and accent chairs. And to have that daily update so I can plan and get a new item in its place quickly is great.
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At this point, I’ve had my booth for four months and I’m loving it. I’ve gotten to know a few of the staff members, owner, and managers and they are all so kind. You can tell they are like family and look out for each other. The other vendors are also so nice. I was so amazed by the variety of ages of everyone. Some people have been vendors at this shop for decades and you can tell. They’ve honed in on what they sell and what their customers like. There are also vendors there who are younger and are so skilled at sourcing items that are on trend.
I’m excited to see where this leads and how this might grow for me. I’m already considering expanding and adding a second booth! But also trying not to get ahead of myself, this is only month 4 after all… Do you want to hear more about my vintage vendor journey? What I’m learning and how sales are going? Let me know.
What do you think?