Btown goes ‘vogue’ with opening of GW vintage boutique

Shoppers on the lookout for vintage clothing have another spot on Kirkwood Avenue to shop as of Tuesday. 
 
Vintage Vogue by GW, a pilot store owned by Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana, had its grand opening at 422 E. Kirkwood Ave. The store is located in the alley behind Which Wich Superior Sandwiches.

“I think it’s really cool. It’s the good part of Goodwill,” shopper and IU freshman Christina Sneed said as she carried several blouses and skirts to a dressing room.

The store sells brands ranging from Aeropostale and L.e.i. to Louis Vuitton, Oscar de la Renta and Gucci.

It opened amid a flurry of free T-shirt giveaways, extra discounts and a WBWB-FM, commonly known as B97, radio broadcast on Kirkwood.

While several similar stores are located throughout the country, this is the first of its kind in central Indiana, said Cindy Graham, vice president of marketing at Goodwill Industries of Central Indiana. 

Graham said the store has more than 7,000 items for sale on a daily basis.
Purses, jewelry, knickknacks for homes or dorm rooms and both men and women’s clothing and shoes are available for purchase.

“This is what Urban Outfitters is trying to achieve, but their stuff costs three times as much,” Bloomington resident James Woodard said.

While an array of brands are for sale, higher-end merchandise such as kate spade or Ralph Lauren is less common.

All products come from Goodwill stores in the Indianapolis area, so Bloomington-area Goodwills will continue to have unique merchandise, Graham said.

“When you go to Goodwill, they either have clothes for really young or really old people,” Sneed said. “This store does well with putting a college-age group of products in here.”

Vintage Vogue features a few racks of exclusively women’s jeans where 7 for All Mankind, Juicy Couture, Joe’s Jeans and Calvin Klein brand names can be found.
 
“We’re very picky about what we put on our shelves,” team leader Joshua Mattick said.

New merchandise comes in three times a week and goes on the racks that night, Mattick said.

“I think it has a lot more options than I thought they would,” IU senior Lanise Wafford said. “The price range is really good.”

Once an item has been on the shelves for four weeks it is automatically marked down 50 percent, Mattick said.

“Even if it’s an awesome high-end brand, we will move it to the 50 percent off section,” Mattick said.

Located near other established boutiques on Kirkwood, Vintage Vogue will try to be as competitive as possible with both pricing and merchandise offerings, Mattick said.

“We’re poor college students,” IU senior Sarah Epplin said. “It’s nice to find a cute top that’s $7.”

Like all other Goodwill stores, profits earned will help fund employment and educational services in central Indiana, Graham said.    

“It’s a win-win situation,” she said. “You can get cool things and help someone out at the same time.”