A new vintage clothing shop has opened in York.
The Vintage Works has opened at 8 Grape Lane, showcasing some of the latest finds in vintage wear and featuring well-known brands like Ralph Lauren and Harley Davidson.
YorkMix spoke with the owner, Chris Brown, to find out more.
Chris, from near Middlesborough, has a background in financial services and banking before deciding that it wasn’t for him and that he wanted to pursue the things he was interested in.
“I sold some vintage stuff online which went okay so I decided to look for a retail shop,” said Chris.
“I love York, it’s my favourite city, and there’s a lot of tourists here and two universities – a lot of students love this kind of stuff. When I was thinking where would be the best place, this just ticked every box.”
The building was previously home to the bridal shop Bridal Rouge Gallery, which is now located on Goodramgate.
This is Chris’ first venture into retail and he said it was “a lot harder” than expected. He’s made all the furnishings inside himself from reclaimed materials.
“Doing all that was a lot of late nights – a lot of mishaps as well.”
The artwork on the walls is by North East-based graffiti artist graffi_ty_art.
Chris is keen to find stock that he thinks “everyone will like. We have some one-off pieces that are quite rare, but there’s something for everyone. We have a mix of everything.”
The shop caters for a variety of budges too, as the price for the vintage treasures ranges from £15 up to £150.
Though the shop opened on Saturday (27 April), it’s not fully ready yet with more stock going out on to the shop floor soon.
The opening weekend was “a lot busier than I expected,” said Chris.
“Everyone who’s come in has said it looks great, and a lot of people said the prices are really great too. We had a 12-year-old kid in buying for his parents to 50 or 60-year-old couples come in – so it was a really broad range.”
At the moment it’s just Chris working at the shop, with a friend helping out on some days too.
“The plan is that if things go well and if it gets busy enough that we can get someone else in to help out.”
Chris also has plans to introduce some games into the store too.
“I was thinking of getting a dartboard in and highest with nine darts gets £200 store credit – things like that.
“This is just the beginning.”
The Vintage Works is open Monday to Saturday, 10am-6pm, and Sunday, 11am-5pm. Keep updated with The Vintage Works at their Instagram page.
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