MUNCIE, Ind- One group of college students came together last weekend to set up a “Vintage Pop Up” shop that sold a variety of clothes, comic books, action figures, and music. The shop had different students selling pieces of clothing from the 70s and 80s.
Ball State student Seth Pope started looking into vintage clothes when he started shopping at Goodwill and other thrift stores, he found clothing that had value and decided to sell it through social media.
“I was looking for clothing for my personal closet and I kept running into stuff that did not fit me that was super cool, I don’t want to leave this here because someone I know could wear this, I didn’t want to leave it behind and try to give it to someone that is able to get some use from it,” Seth Pope said.
Pope and one of his friends decided to sell at different venues “more like garage sales” and advertise to the college students at Ball State University. In time Pope had people reach out to him to be able to sell their own vintage clothing. Pope currently has 11 vendors selling clothes.
“We currently have 11 vendors but I do hope in the future we can reach 20 vendors, we currently don’t have the space to have extra venders but I do think it’s possible to grow,” Pope said.
Vintage clothing is a type of style that is currently popular in younger generations. Those that are interested in thrifting are creating a welcoming community. A community that brings unity with no competitions between vendors instead encourages others to buy from each other and grow with each other.
Customer Joelle McFall has been interested in thrifting when she was a younger girl, going with her father to different garage sales and seeing the different valuable items that are sold.
“It's really cool, it's a community that invites everyone with open arms, there's no competition between others. Instead, there are people teaching and showing people the importance of thrifting and buying vintage clothes,” McFall said.
Pope is hoping to host another “Vintage Pop Up” shop in the Village by the end of March, hoping to host more vendors and customers.
Contact Angelica Gonzalez with comments at agonzalezmor@bsu.edu
