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We talk to the co-founders of Vintage Store Day on what their new international awareness day means for independent secondhand retailers
We already know your favourite way to spend a Saturday. Maybe it’s flipping through the racks of vintage clothing at your go-to local spot and pulling out a piece that seems like it was made for you.
Or crouching down in the corner of a from-another-time antiques shop, sifting through a basket of random vintage trinkets before your hand closes around the perfect drawer knob.
Or grabbing a coffee before a stroll through the most extraordinary vintage furniture store with a pal, where you both lose it over a six-foot-long lighted vanity table.
Now, you can celebrate those experiences — and your favourite independent bricks-and-mortar vintage stores — this spring with the first-ever Vintage Store Day, happening Saturday, May 17.
The national awareness day, started by Chicago-based vintage shops Lost Girls and Rare Form, has already seen 200 stores in 27 U.S. states commit to participate at the time of this writing — and the event is open internationally for any stores to join the movement. (For info on how to pledge your participation, scroll to the bottom of this post).
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Vintage Store Day is a chance for communities to amplify vintage and secondhand stores and boost sales, say co-founders Emma Lewis and Sarah Azzouzi.
It’s been a tough few years for bricks-and-mortar business owners.
Retail research firm Coresight Research reports that in 2024, retail store closures were the highest they’d been since the pandemic — and in 2025, closures are expected to increase over 300 per cent.
Emma and Sarah say it’s been difficult losing the surge of people who were shopping locally during the early days of the pandemic, when bottlenecked supply chains resulted in people who usually shopped at big-box stores venturing into their local vintage and secondhand shops to see what they might be able to find.
As supply chains straightened out, consumers turned back to the e-commerce giants with their low-cost options and speedy delivery, which eclipse what a local business can offer, says Sarah, co-owner of clothing shop Lost Girls Vintage.
“It’s not a fair comparison to juxtapose the prices of fast-fashion garments with those from handmade, vintage or curated small shops,” she says.
“Everything you buy [from an indie retailer] has human hands handling it, whether you’re spending $2 or $200.”
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Changes in foot traffic, of course, cause a change in sales. And that’s happening with bricks-and-mortar businesses everywhere, even beyond the secondhand space.
Emma, owner of Art Deco vintage shop Rare Form, also runs a wholesale vintage-inspired greeting card company called The Twentieth.
She says sales in the past year have decreased as retailers cut their buying budgets.
“The election uncertainty that defined last year is now even worse with the political climate and fears over the slowing economy in the U.S.,” Emma says, noting that the trade war between the United States and multiple other countries is adding an extra challenge on top of the competition from low-cost retailers and inflation.
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“Small businesses don’t have the margins to absorb these extra costs like big-box stores do, and we don’t want to pass the burden on to our customers either,” says Emma.
“That’s why grassroots movements that celebrate community and keeping money in local economies are more important than ever, and that’s what Vintage Store Day is meant to be: a celebration of local, independent stores.”
Sarah and Emma say Vintage Store Day is an opportunity to recapture some of the magic from 2020-2021 when people placed pickup orders, shopped locally and made a real impact keeping their community stores operating.
“While the circumstances are different now, the benefits are still the same [for vintage shops],” says Emma. “We can preserve and appreciate the past while supporting our local economy and our neighbourhood businesses.”
For its in-store celebrations, Rare Form will be giving away gift bags to customers stuffed with Vintage Store Day T-shirts, stickers and tote bags, plus offering sales and discounts including on their coveted antique prints.
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Sarah at Lost Girls Vintage plans to give away merchandise and prizes too, highlight archival items and host a sidewalk sale and mini workshops that cover mending, styling and vintage eras.
Emma suggests participating retailers explore small discounts and giveaways, too, or to team up with other local stores in their regions to create maps where shoppers can complete their own tour.
Participating stores can also get one of the official Vintage Store Day “passport” postcards with stickers. “Stores that have many participating in one area can do a vintage crawl and customers can collect stickers on their “passport,” she says.
And for the shoppers out there who snag an official passport, they can mail it to the organizer to be entered into a draw to win a gift card to the shop of their choice.
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Emma and Sarah say they hope the day will spotlight the work vintage bricks-and-mortar shops are doing in their communities every day.
“There are countless reasons why shopping small, local and secondhand are more important than ever, from the economy to the environment,” says Emma. “Our stores, in addition to contributing to our communities as small businesses, have the added values of sustainability, preservation, reuse and upcycling.”
Sarah says she hopes that people who don’t regularly shop vintage will come out and participate in Vintage Store Day, too.
“Shopping for vintage is not something that should be reserved for special occasions. Vintage pieces can easily become integral parts of your everyday wardrobe and lifestyle,” she says.
“You can effortlessly integrate a vintage sweatshirt with your modern workout clothes or pair your favourite vintage Levi’s with a contemporary top and a vintage leather jacket.”
Ultimately, consumers are the ones with the power to shop more sustainably and keep their money in their local communities.
“We all need to break the habit of relying on big-box stores for everything, otherwise, the communities we cherish may cease to exist,” adds Sarah. “You get to choose what type of work environment and practices your dollar supports.”
Vendors can sign up their bricks-and-mortar stores free to pledge their commitment to Vintage Store Day — once they do, they can download social media graphics to share their participation.
And for the collectors, buyers and vintage lovers out there, follow the movement on Instagram and get out and support your local stores on May 17.
Have a question or comment about Vintage Store Day? Let us know in the comments!
