Tag: entrepreneur

Business · Community · Thrifting

Top 5 Vintage Stores in Boston

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When it comes to the vintage scene, Boston is starting to make a serious footprint. There are all kinds of vintage stores across the US that have a stronghold in areas that are both remotely and in crowded cities. From LA to NY there are hundreds of some of the most iconic vintage stores packed with original Levis and adorable swing dresses. Many times, these stores are the places that Hollywood turns to for outfitting dated movie and television scenes. In fact, one of the names on this list has been featured in many movies across the big screen and they’ve been in Boston this whole time!

What is vintage? The term “vintage” and “antique” oftentimes overlap when spoken about from day to day. In terms of “true Vintage” we, at Diversity Consignment reference that phrase to anything that is at least 20 years old. Many department stores and boutiques will carry new “vintage inspired” outfits that may contain elements that one would commonly see in a vintage piece. These elements could include natural frays, dyes, or patina characteristic of a true vintage, aged garment. Not as good as the real thing in my opinion.

For this list we scoured the internet and by car for places within our home-town, Boston, Ma. in search of the absolute best true vintage stores in the area. There is no particular order to which of the top 5 is better than the others; this list is more of a comprehensive list of high-quality true vintage stores within Boston. Get ready…Go!

Bobby From Boston

Bobby From Boston is the OG Boston vintage store. It was established in 1995 by the true legend Bobby Garnett. Bobby started off his career in the vintage game by establishing his personal collection and growing it into his personal showcase. He must have been a true pioneer at the time when vintage clothing certainly didn’t have the mainstream buzz that it does today.

He eventually evolved his personal collection into an internationally sensational storefront. Bobby From Boston has outfitted countless movie sets and inspired incredible fashion designers. They have thousands of pieces from every era throughout fashion history. I believe that they do not accept anything later than the 80s to be brought into their showcase for sale.

Prices are on the higher side of second-hand outlets; however, you are sure to find exactly what you’re looking for and more! Today, Bobby From Boston is run by Bobby’s daughter Jessica since his passing in 2016. Jessica continues to run the warehouse with the legacy of Bobby in mind while adding her own creative twist.

The warehouse is absolutely massive. It’s barely even a store really. There are thousands of garments and outfits from every era imaginable. The focus is certainly male-oriented but as we know, anything can be and should be worn by anyone. The place is a museum of hand-picked gems and should be recognized as one. Maybe it will be someday!

They are currently located in their warehouse at 545 Washington St. in Lynn, Ma. Bobby From Boston is exclusively open to the public on Sundays from 11-4.

40 South St.

40 South St. in Jamaica Plain may be one of Boston’s greatest hidden gems. The store has been in business for over 30 years and run by former rock star Hilken Mancini. Hilken was a rock star from the golden age of punk and was a member of bands such as Fuzzy, The Count Me Outs, and Shepherdess.

The store brings out that punk rock energy in such a terrific way. There are hundreds of true vintage gems all over the place! Included in the inventory are vintage rock shirts, womenswear as well as a vast selection of menswear. The place is a real vibe and Mancini contributes to that energy in a great way. She really is the queen of vintage Boston. It is easy to get lost in the mix of colorful 60s, 70s, and 80s fabric.

The store is certainly on the smaller side and is loaded with clothing. The place is vibrant and colorful. It is located at 40 South St. in Jamaica Plain, Boston. The store is open Thursday 12-6, Friday 12-6, Saturday 11-6, and Sunday 12-5. Definitely come check it out!

Vivant Vintage

It’s pronounced “VeeVaunt”! Vivant Vintage pays homage to the rebirth of clothing. After all, the word vivant itself is the French word for life. Vivant Vintage has that goal in mind; to resurface life into cast-away and discarded clothing, shoes, and accessories and wow are they giving them life!

From the Traveling Spectacular cart owner Justin Pomerleau constructed in 2011, to the brick-and-mortar store he has today, Justin has created a legacy. So detailed, in fact, you can read the play-by-play history on the Vivant website. It is a true American Dream brought to life.

Vivant Vintage is housed in a unique location within Allston. It is close by to a candle factory so oftentimes there is a fresh candle-making scent lingering nearby. I think this adds to the charm of the shop. The store itself is organized in a very aesthetically pleasing organized clutter. Not to say that it is cluttered, because it certainly is well organized. The store just screams vintage. Hundreds of vintage jeans. Everything there is hand-picked by Justin and his team of experts. Nothing is not vintage, and that passion shows. They have an excellent selection of all things old but jewelry in particular is what stands out the most. Check it out for yourself!

Vivant Vintage is located at 318 Lincoln St, Allston Ma. They’re right there at the end of the footbridge. You may also see Justin and the team on the road as they stick to their roots by regularly scheduling pop-ups throughout various marketplaces in Boston.

High Energy Vintage

Another vintage shop in Boston with humble roots in the street markets is High Energy Vintage. High Energy Vintage began on the streets of SoWa Vintage Market in Boston’s South End. In 2012 they were able to secure their first location in Teele Square, and in 2016 they moved to their current location at Union Square.

High Energy Vintage is one of those places that once you’re there, you never forget. The place is decked out in neat decor and childhood nostalgia (I guess if you were a child near the time I was, at least). The place is laced in vibrant, colorful clothing and some staple classics. Think 1980s as a store front and you’ve envisioned yourself within the walls of High Energy Vintage. The owners really do bring the energy when it comes to the decor and the vibes. They have a fairly large storefront and always have plenty of gems to choose from at very reasonable prices.

High Energy Vintage is your 1 stop shop for all things nostalgic. They even have a rad selection of vinyl records and VHS tapes! Also, I have to admit, their Tiktok and social media pages deserve more views and likes than they get. The marketing is absolutely fabulous!

Find High Energy Vintage at 429 Somerville Ave. in Somerville, Ma. They’re open every day except Tuesday. You can also find High Energy Vintage on the road as well! They’re oftentimes setting up shop at the local markets and have a schedule to see where they’ll be right there on their website.

Great Eastern Trading Co

Certainly, the oldest vintage shop on the list is the Great Eastern Trading Co. Originally created as an army/navy surplus store in 1969, Great Eastern Trading Co has a long and detailed history. I won’t go into all the details within this article, but the information is readily available on their website. The current owner, Nephtaliem McCrary has brought the store to the forefront of the “modern” vintage scene of Boston.

With locations in Cambridge, Malden, and Somerville, the Great Eastern Trading Co has roots that stretch to all corners of the city. The stores themselves are what you would want to walk into when desiring something different. The store specializes in true vintage garments and costumes. They have a huge selection of the perfect costumes for any party/event and especially Halloween. The stores are stocked full of eclectic displays and decor. The characters are really brought to life anytime someone tries something on and poses for a photo for the web page or social media.

When I tell you this place has energy, this place has energy. There are gorgeous styles from all eras (20’s – today). Owner McCrary really loves to test the limit of sanity with the fun stylings and displays inside and outside of the store. You can find all sorts of fun events scheduled on their website to keep you in the loop of what’s happening within the vintage world. Be sure to keep Great Eastern Trading Co on your list of must-see vintage shops in Boston.

Conclusion

So, there you have it! My list of the top 5 true vintage stores in Boston. Like I said, Boston is on the rise for cool and eclectic vintage shops, and I hope that this list guides you. Don’t forget to check us out as well! Diversity Consignment has been doing its thang, although I would not consider us a true vintage store, we definitely carry some awesome vintage stuff!

I hope that more stores carry on the tradition of recycling clothing and forgotten gems. The world could use more funk and I love to see the future generations rockin’ some unique stylish stuff as opposed to the cookie-cutter styles ugly department stores continue to push on us. Stay humble, stay cool.

-Ian Drake, Diversity Consignment

Business · Community

How Branding Adds Value

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Branding is a great way to add value to your products or service. In fact, I would say that it is the number 1 way to separate your products from becoming a commodity.

You could be upcycling, buying-to-sell, creating something new from scratch, or even selling yourself! The same principles apply. You could even be selling the same exact thing as somebody else! Honestly it doesn’t really matter what you are marketing, the most important thing is to separate yourself from your competition.

The only sure-fire way to separate yourself or your products is through branding. In this article I am going to explain to you the different types of value that you add by creating a solid brand.

Elements of a Brand

The following is a list of some elements to focus on when building a brand:

  • Logo
  • Service
  • Environment
  • Quality
  • Marketing
  • Presentation
  • Cause Association
  • Community Efforts

All of these elements must align when establishing a quality brand. You cannot have marketing that doesn’t corelate with your community efforts. All elements within a brand need to work together seamlessly.

How Branding Helps you Increase Prices

Why are people willing to spend more on a shampoo with a certain label on it over another that does essentially the same thing? There is a lot that goes into a purchasing decision. Does it smell better? Is the packaging more eye catching?

A commodity is defined as “a raw material or primary agricultural product that can be bought and sold, such as copper or coffee.”

So how can one coffee be priced at $1.50 and another coffee be priced at $5.50? The answer is simple. Brand. Sure, one may taste different than the other, but the simple fact is that coffee is coffee. The way to get your products or service separated from simple commodity economics is to create a well-established, trustworthy brand. Starbucks coffee offers an environment including a status symbol that is completely different than your local gas station coffee.

The separation of prices becomes synonymous with the brand associated with it. Quality is oftentimes seen in terms of pricing. If you determine that your products or service are worthy of a higher price point, prove it through differentiation. Taste, environment, smell, technique, are all ways you can differentiate your products or service. Teach people the difference about your brand by including it on your labels, tags, or website.

You can’t just put the price higher and hope that people will be willing to pay for it without any sort of reasoning or differentiation behind it.

How Branding Builds Loyalty

Humans, by nature, become attached to certain things. Once we try it and like it we tend to pick that product again over others when given the choice. Once you have established a trusted relationship with your customers, you add value by creating a life-long relationship.

With so many commodities out there in the world to choose from, how is it possible that a company like Coca-Cola can retain the top spot in the cola industry? The answer is brand loyalty. Sure they have more money than god, but the marketing that they have done has attached Coca-Cola to more than just soda. You see the logo and you automatically get reminded of good times.

It is significantly better for your business to focus more effort on retaining customers than finding new ones. Your brand needs to stick in people’s minds and remind them of something. This is an element and good side-effect of quality branding efforts.

Conclusion

It can be overwhelming establishing a new brand. The most important thing, in my mind, is to just start and develop things as you go. My advice to you is to take it one step at a time. It takes a lot of time and effort to establish yourself as a quality, trusted, differentiated brand.

Avoid becoming the “cheapest” option out there. This can be a good way to get exposure without any effort but will have a lot of negative consequences including becoming an unbranded commodity. Over time people have no choice but to assume your products or services are cheap and will eventually go with a different option.

Time and effort are very hard to quantify until you reach the point of becoming a well-established trustworthy brand. Then, and only then, will you see the added values of branding. Put a tag on it.

-Much Love, Ian Drake- Diversity Consignment

Business · Thrifting

How to Get Started as a Thrifter

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So, you want to start thrifting but don’t know where to begin? What types of things should you be looking for? Do you want to thrift for personal use or for reselling? Can I start a thrifting Vlog? These are some of the questions we’re going to try to answer for you in today’s article….”How to Get Started as a Thrifter!”

Side note: there are a lot of details involved with professional thrifting we may go over in later articles. In this one we are going to focus primarily on how to get started thrifting.

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.com

What Is Thrifting?

You keep hearing this term “thrifting,” but you’ve been living under a rock since 2010. That’s alright, we can explain. According to an upload on Wiktionary, thrifting may be described as, “The act of shopping for cheap items, as for example at a garage sale or flea market.” We, at Diversity Consignment, are going to define the term as, “The act of shopping at a second-hand store with the intentions of using your purchases for personal use, upcycling, content creation, or reselling.”

Thrifting is what we frugal shoppers enjoy doing in our free time. It is 1, good for the environment 2, fun to do and 3, can return you a profit if done correctly. I, personally, began my career in 2014, thrifting with the intention to resell for a profit. At that time, I had very little money to start up a business and enjoyed finding treasures at my local thrift stores. Little did I know that my frugal nature would lead me in the direction that it did! Back then, it was quite uncommon for younger people to be flooding the thrift stores and flea markets like they are today (I know, hard to imagine!). But I digress…

Thrifting is a huge step in the right direction for eliminating some of the textile waste we see negatively affecting our planet. It’s a practice that has been around for over 100 years but I can honestly say it’s great to hear that you’re finally taking on an interest!

Why Do You Want To Thrift?

In order to know what to look for, you’re first going to have to understand why you want to thrift. Is it because you understand the negative economic impacts wasteful companies such as the fashion industries progress? Is it because you want to stay stylish while saving money? Or is it because you’re looking to start a side hustle you can work on to call your own? It could even be a combination of all three! If your intentions are to become a thrifter who buys for reselling or Vlogging, we’re going to try to help you with today’s article.

What To Look For

Reasonably speaking, one can find all kinds of things at the thrift stores. Most places carry a wide range of second-hand products from clothing, accessories, CDs, stereo equipment, to artwork and much, much more.

If you want to start thrifting to resell, I recommend focusing on a particular category that you find especially interesting. That way when you find something unique or valuable, you will always get the same rush of excitement. Having a niche category that you look for can also save you a whole lot of wasted time and energy!

I would also recommend starting in a category that isn’t too overcrowded but also retains interest. Take some time to research on major ecommerce websites like eBay and video platforms like YouTube for some categories that don’t seem too competitive. By competitive what I mean is a particular category that has an overwhelming number of listings or videos already made or uploaded. For example, starting to thrift for vintage clothing may be great for personal use, but when it comes to resale it will be difficult to find the “grail” pieces first of all, and secondly, it would be challenging to make a footprint in the vintage market. If you were to get into vintage clothing, I would start with a more niche category such as “vintage travel t-shirts.” (I will go into further detail in a separate article on what constitutes an article of clothing as “vintage“).

You want to be able to get your content out there to people who are actually going to see it! The easiest way to get lost in the search results is to pick a broad category that already has a lot of coverage. Due to the algorithms set in place, in order to reach the top search results in ecommerce sites like eBay or video platforms like YouTube, you’re going to need a lot of listings and content with a proven track record. Of course, none of this you will have when you’re first starting out. The fastest way to be able to stand out is to choose something specific that shows interest but doesn’t have a lot of coverage.

Where To Start Sourcing

What you look for will also be important for where you go to source. For instance, if you’re intending on starting a Vlog about tractor equipment, going to the local Goodwill might not be the best place to start sourcing. Instead, research some barn sales going on in the nearby area (yes they do have barn sales) or yard sales in a more rural area if you live in the city.

This may sound silly but I’m being serious! Where you go to source will have a huge impact on preventing burnout. There are certain places that are honey-holes for specific things. You’re going to have to do some research to figure out where it is that may have what you’re looking for. You can find information online, through reddit discussions, or even in specific Facebook groups. Ask around! some people are more than happy to share where they go to treasure hunt.

Don’t be discouraged if other thrifters don’t share the information though! Thrifters can be notoriously territorial over their favorite spots!

How Much Should I Be Spending?

Now this is when things can get a little tricky. It depends. It depends on what your budget is for exactly what you want to do. I know this sounds ambiguous but bear with me.

Of course we all want to spend as little as possible when it comes to thrifting but you don’t want to give up quality for frugality. Some things you find might warrant a higher price! Don’t shy away from spending a little more to get something that you can flip for A LOT more. There have been plenty of times that I have wound up kicking myself because I left a store empty handed simply because I wasn’t willing to spend the extra $5-10.

Do a little research to find out what the market value is for what you’re sourcing. Have your smartphone with you the whole time you’re out there so you can quickly look up comps (completed sales) to see what the true value of what you’re finding is worth. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT think that asking prices are what things are worth. Anyone can ask any price for any thing! Figure out what it is actually selling for.

If you are creating a Vlog on a certain niche, the budget may be a little different. You may be willing to spend a little more for something special because you know it’s going to result in higher viewership or you have no idea when you’re going to find it again.

Conclusion

Find a category that interests you (tools, records, shoes) and narrow it down to a less competitive market that still has interest. Instead of “boots” narrow it further down to “cowboy boots.” Do your research. You may be saying WTF I came here as research! Trust me when I say that this is only the tip of the iceberg. There’s way too much detail that follows to include in this basic tutorial. If you want to be successful in Vlogging or Thrifting to resell you’re going to need to dedicate a lot of time to the craft.

That’s not to say that it isn’t worth it though! Thrifting feels amazing. It’s one of those activities that truly makes an impact beyond your personal achievements. So, I say, thrift on! Buy used shit!

If you found this article helpful, please feel free to comment your thoughts and ideas below in the comments section. Don’t forget to subscribe to get notified when new articles are being released!

-Ian Drake, Diversity Consignment