Today we’d like to introduce you to Alexandra Miller.
Hi Alexandra, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I started getting into vintage fashion in high school when my mother gave me some of my grandma’s clothing from the ’60s and ’70s. That started a love of vintage clothing and music. I started to collect anything 20 years old or older I could get my hands on. Soon I had several pieces that didn’t fit me so I started an online Etsy shop to sell these pieces to help fund my hobby. After a year my inventory had outground my closet space and became a real business. I had to branch out to an in-person shop. In early December last year, I opened shags vintage in downtown Hillsboro Il. It’s doing nothing but growing and I have an even bigger shop currently in the works. It will be nearly 4 times the size I am now and I’m shooting to open up in the new shop early next year!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been lots of learning curves. Dealing with accidentally shipping the wrong item. Having to many pieces to small of a space and having to dig to find the piece I just sold. Luckily after each problem, I figure out a way to prevent the issue in the future, or at the least, I’m less stressed when it happens again.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Shags vintage sells vintage clothing in sizes twiggy to mama Cass. I have thousands of vintage clothing pieces ranging from 20 years ago to 120 years ago! I have a wide range of sizes, styles, and eras. I believe buying vintage saves both history and the planet. Vintage garments are made with higher standards and just quality not found today. I believe in using what’s already here on earth before creating new.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
I was lucky during the worst of the pandemic I was an online-only business. However, I do source many of my inventory from the elderly and with them in the most risk I wasn’t able to grow as fast as I could have. I was able to set up some porch pick-ups. Which helped both me and those I bought the items from. A lot of people needed money during Covid 19 and had closets full of clothing they just were no longer wearing. I was able to buy their old clothes and give them the money they needed.
Contact Info:
- Email: Shagsvintage@gmail.com
- Website: www.shagsvintage.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/shagsvintage
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/shagsvintage
