Describe your business:
1889 Salvage Co is a vintage home decor store that also carries clothes, footwear, and jewelry. Being a vintage store, we love taking something old and giving it new life. We carry affordable things to make a house a home. We also build things, rent pieces for events and we will stage and style for homes and events. We scour here and there and everywhere for things that are vintage and vintage inspired and display them in fun, whimsical and unique ways. Customers have apologized for coming in “just for ideas” but I tell them that’s the biggest compliment we can get!
What is the most important piece of 1889 Salvage Co?
Providing a friendly, warm shopping experience is the most important piece of my business. People will always remember how you made them feel. I hope customers leave having been treated with warmth and inspired by something they saw. If a customer can’t find something at our store then I’m happy to provide recommendations or do some research for them. Going above and beyond not only feels good but it also increases the chances that they’ll be back another time!
Give some recommendations to moms from your perspective:
Don’t give up on creative pursuits because you have kids at home. If you have a free five minutes use it to express your personal brand of creativity. That may be a vision board, doodles, sewing, needlework or furniture painting. If you love being creative and feel you don’t have time as a mom just remember that if you’re able to express your creativity you’ll be a happier, more grounded mom and that’s good for your kids.
What’s mindset change you had after you began your practice:
I thought starting small would be a great idea to get my feet wet. Our first location was about 1500 square feet of retail space. Cute but small. After six months in our original location, I realized that what we actually needed was a bigger space! In September of 2017, we moved to our current location at 2824 N Monroe. It has two and a half times space, a big parking lot and a roll-up garage door. That move was a turning point. We are able to host events in our parking lot, open up the basement where we have our “screaming deals” room. Adding vendors added not only more income, but infused the space with their creativity and sense of style. I never tire of customers that come in and say they love how we display things. The store is better for the team effort!
[metaslider id=”7060″]How can people start this same journey?
I started with a small booth in a vintage store I loved. From there I added more booths and did some flea markets and vintage shows. If you’re interested in a creative life, start small and just keep taking steps until it feels natural to go to the next step. Just saying what you want to create and then keeping it in your mind’s eye will cause things to happen you didn’t expect. Call it serendipity or coincidence but I truly believe that seeing it first in your mind will create it in reality. If you are scared, that’s okay, just take a baby, baby step and keep taking them and soon you have more confidence than you thought you had! Make sure that you have people around you that support you, that will tell you the truth but who want you to succeed. Sometimes when I’m really worried about something, I remind myself about what I’m trying to create and I get to work on that. I find that you can’t be consumed by creativity and worried at the same time. Thank Goodness!
Find us on social media:
We are on Facebook and Instagram as 1889SalvageCo. Folks can email us at [email protected].
We are different vintage shows throughout the year including Farm Chicks the first weekend in June at the Spokane Fairgrounds.
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