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Vintage sellers that got their starts on social media are now expanding offline, rewriting the rulebook for secondhand shops. However, in-person growth comes with challenges for those who founded their businesses on Instagram.
No Standing, which now has a store in New York’s Soho, started on Instagram while founders Sari Cattan and Helena Dweck were still in college before opening pop-up stores. Their current space, which opened in December 2022, is a temporary lease, but the founders hope to extend (otherwise, they say, they’ll find another physical space). No Standing’s venture into physical spaces was a win. They posted it to their social media, and people showed up ready to fork out. “Instead of buying one piece through our Instagram account, they’d buy seven pieces,” Dweck says. “And, they’d bring their friends, who also bought three pieces.” In 2022, sales reached $800,000 — this year, they’re projecting $1.5 million, according to the brand.
The physical space also strengthens No Standing’s reputation and, in turn, its clientele, the founders say. It’s designed to feel like you’re going over to the founders’ apartment; there’s a couch at the back, a bar cart stocked with drinks — even a doorbell. “It’s a very different experience than looking online,” Cattan says. “Having a store allows us to know more about who we’re catering to. We get to talk to [people] and develop these relationships and connections that can last a lifetime. And that can improve our business.”
Treasures of NYC founders Brit Blanco-Bird and Robert Bird started their vintage shop on Ebay in 2013 before gaining an audience on Instagram that led to them launching their own e-commerce site. The first physical store opened in April 2022 — sales have increased 180 per cent since (the retailer declined to share sales figures). Blanco-Bird says there was a gap in the vintage market for young people who didn’t fit the typical profile of a designer consumer, which is where Treasures of NYC has found its following. James Veloria, a vintage store founded by Collin James Weber and Brandon Veloria Giordano that launched online in 2014, opened a Chinatown store in 2017 and is planning an LA pop-up next month. They still sell through Instagram stories as well. This year, the company is projecting sales of $2.2 million, they say, up 29 per cent from last year’s $1.7 million.
Social media — first Instagram and now TikTok — has opened the gateways for digital-savvy Gen Z customers to get their hands on a big market of secondhand and vintage goods. While online resellers like The RealReal and traditional secondhand boutiques cater to a higher-end designer customers, vintage stores that have gained followings on social media are tapping a younger audience. Physical shops are a way to transfer that attention to a retail store and build communities offline. The interest is there. 78 per cent of Gen Zs say physical stores will always have a purpose, and 74 per cent say IRL experiences are more exciting than digital, according to youth culture agency Archrival’s upcoming consumer trends report. The secondhand market is expected to grow at three times the rate of the overall global apparel market up to 2027, driven by Gen Z consumers, according to online secondhand platform Thredup.
But, as these sites scale offline, maintaining the community feel that early followers were drawn to becomes more difficult, as well as balancing demand from online audiences with in-store shoppers. While an Instagram post can garner attention for certain pieces, interest can ultimately exceed inventory, leading to unhappy customers. “How do we grow as a company and widen our visibility while still feeling like what we are, which is essentially a very small company?” says Blanco-Bird.
With more TikTok resellers proliferating, and peer-to-peer marketplaces like Depop gaining popularity among Gen Z shoppers, differentiation across stores is also more essential. How are these vintage haunts retaining — and growing — their appeal and reach?
Like a living room: The staying power of physical spaces
James Veloria opened up shop in a location with very little foot traffic. “There was a record store and some art galleries. There were days when no one came up here,” Weber says. Social media, where the brand already had a following, was key to getting the word out — which started with Giordano posting stores in the archival pieces. “It wasn’t like we were doing it for Instagram, but it was very clear right away that that was the tool to get people up here,” Giordano says.
Instagram content
The original space was made up of free items from Craigslist and decorations from party supplies store Party City and it still has a similar feel. The goal is to create a safe space for those wanting to experiment. Given this, the quiet location is actually a draw. “I think people feel comfortable in the space right away — partly because it was so hidden away,” Weber says. “We wanted to make it feel like a living room or like you’re in someone’s home.”
The Treasures of NYC pair began with a similar intent. The two wanted to found a store that they’d be comfortable buying from, outside of the major players that dominated. A “safe haven for the movers and shakers and weirdos”, Blanco-Bird calls it. “We wanted the space to feel like a showroom but also a hangout space,” art advisory and design firm Salon 21’s Alex Bass says. “Traditional retail is dead, so a concept that is different, personalised and constantly-changing is key.” The founders have put their own spin on the space — which was originally designed by Bass — updating it to reflect their own design cues and the evolution of Treasures.
Treasures opted for a by-appointment model — “which we’re iffy about because the name of our game is accessibility and we wanted everyone to get a piece of Treasures,” Blanco-Bird says. “But, in a weird way, appointments made sense for us because if we wanted people to fully be immersed in the world of Treasures, they needed to experience it fully and wholeheartedly with full sensory overload.”
It’s not always about following a set plan — or catering to the masses. “I’m a business school’s worst nightmare,” Blanco-Bird jokes. “We follow none of the rules; we do whatever we want.”
Treasures’s socials are funny with a casual feel. This carries over to the physical space (which features a moving dry cleaner clothing rack and graffiti on the walls) and inventory (for each black Chanel bag, shoppers can find multiple brightly coloured, beaded Fendis and patterned Dior saddles — Fendi baguettes hold the top spot for units sold, with saddles in close second). Blanco-Bird says: “There are people who I know we rub the wrong way and we are not their cup of tea. That’s why we are firm believers that this industry is big enough for all the players.”
Social strategies in the era of the store
The stores have well-established Instagram strategies, having built out their branding and messaging at the height of the app. TikTok presents a newer — and less clear — opportunity.
The algorithm is far-reaching, Cattan says, noting that many store visitors say they came across the space on TikTok. “Plus, people that find us on TikTok will end up coming to our Instagram.” Treasures has also been experimenting with the app in the last couple of weeks. “It’s funny, because Robert and I are like, we’re boomers, we’re too old for TikTok,” Blanco-Bird jokes. But it fits with the Treasures brand, she says.
Some TikTok creators make their own in-store videos. It’s a blessing and a curse, Blanco-Bird says. They’ve had to put a note on the website asking that people don’t book appointment slots to create content, and to email to discuss alternative options if that’s the goal.
Instagram content
“You go viral and then you draw the people who just want to come in and create the content to say they were there,” Blanco-Bird says. “And, in a weird way, it’s ironic in saying that we don’t want that because that goes against what we stand for. We want everyone. But, we also don’t want to lose sight of the people who really need us.” She half-backtracks: “No one needs us. We’re selling designer bags. But people who were the young Roberts and I — that’s who we sell for.”
The James Veloria founders echo this sentiment. The influx of content creators threw them off at first, especially in the early days of TikTok — but they recognise that the visibility winds up translating into sales, even if the person filming doesn’t buy anything. “Now, I’m kind of like, ‘All right. But, if you’re gonna do it and I’m in it, let’s make sure my angles are right’,” Giordano jokes.
“We’re honoured,” Blanco-Bird says. “But, we don’t want to become mainstream. And people think we’re insane saying that. It’s a blessing and a curse every time a TikTok blows up.” With social media, she says, you lose an element of control. “That’s just part of the game, right?”
At the end of the day, social media gets the word out. “I don’t think we would be here without all of what Instagram has to offer,” No Standing’s Cattan says. “And TikTok. Can’t forget TikTok!”
Key takeaway: New York vintage stores Treasures of NYC, No Standing and James Veloria got their starts online and grew on Instagram. In recent years, they’ve launched physical spaces in a bid to cultivate community and create spaces for consumers to engage with their offerings in new, more personalised, ways. Now, they’re adapting their social strategies to promote their physical spaces while navigating TikTok’s impact on visibility.
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