They came onto the stage to ask what they were doing.
Slone and Zook were setting up a pop-up store at Serendipity Martini Bar featuring antique clothing. Serendipity was also hosting a whiskey tasting to go along with the vintage clothing.
“They just seem to go together like peas and carrots,” Zook said. “Well-aged whiskey and well-aged vintage clothing, so it makes sense.”
Slone owns Cherry Canary Vintage Clothing store and Zook owns A.Z. Vintage clothing store.
A.Z. Vintage focuses on “affordably priced vintage furniture, housewares and men’s and women’s clothing and accessories,” according to the company’s website. Although their main decades of vintage range from 1950-1960, they have a collection spanning from the 1930s to the 1990s. Most of their products are vintage, but there is a small section that also carries new items.
Cherry Canary Vintage is a family business. Slone’s mother opened it around 20 years ago at the current location of FARM Bloomington. It used to be called Material Plane, and Zook said she was a frequent visitor of the store as a teenager.
Zook liked the store when Slone’s mother owned it, and still likes it now that Slone is in charge.
“We consider ourselves cooperative competition and we work really well together,” Zook said. “We’re good friends (and) we have a lot of fun so we love doing this.”
Slone and Zook lined the stage’s walls with coat racks filled with vintage coats, sweaters and blouses. Slone and Zook sat at the rear end of the stage, easily accessible for customers curious about any clothing. In the middle of the stage was a long table with vintage accessories such as purses and jewelry.
To the left of the stage was a disc jockey station playing funk and jazz music. The whiskey station was closer to the entrance, serving Russell’s Reserve, Rare Breed and Wild Turkey.
“We’re just branching out to see if people are into these types of whiskey,” Event Manager Jada Bee said. “But also to give our customers a taste of something’s that’s more top-shelf.”
Bee said that part of the reason she decided to partner with Slone and Zook was to bring a different clientele to Serendipity but also to support local businesses, something she says she has plans for in the future.
For Jessica Berndt and Chaz Mottinger, this was their first pop up store experience. Berndt found the event on Facebook and told Mottinger and a few other friends.
“It just seemed like something different to do than going to a show or just drinking at the bar like ?usual,” Berndt said.
This is what Bee had been hoping for. Attracting people who don’t normally frequent Serendipity, and show them they are more than just a martini bar. She mentioned the full kitchen, top shelf alcohol supplied by award-winning bartenders like Doug Spradley.
In the end, it was about converging two demographics for the benefit of local business.
“It’s about bridging that gap between all of us and having some things that wouldn’t necessarily work together, work together,” Bee said.
