How did you get interested in vintage?
When I was little, my grandparents lived in the Midwest and used to take me to auctions
every weekend, early training in finding a bargain. We’ d pile into the wood panel station
wagon, drive through the countryside, sit for hours on high rise bleachers in dusty
overcrowded auction houses, usually bid on some boxes of fabric for my grandmother
who was a quilter, or some carpentry tools for grandpa, then stop for ice cream on the
way home – sometimes I even got to hold the bidding paddle! I loved every second of
those days!
In your shop's profile it says that you lived in Toyko for awhile, did people there go
thrifting also? Are they interested in vintage as well?
Vintage clothing is huge in Tokyo and there are hundreds of shops, but the prices are
high as most items come from Europe or the US. A vintage shop owner in Portland once
told me that the Japan buyers and stores keep them in business.
One of my favorite sights in Tokyo was Japanese hipsters wearing vintage Future
Farmers of America jackets with names like Bob stitched on the front.
Thrifting as we know it doesn’ t really exist in Japan, but they do have amazing flea
markets – the best ones are at the shrines in and around Kyoto. I did stumble across some
great recycle and junk type shops in Tokyo, but it takes some serious searching to find
shops that actually sell Japanese items and not overseas vintage at large markups.
When you are out picking what sort of things do you gravitate towards?
I buy things I would like in my own home. Unfortunately that often
means it’ s hard to part with things. My husband is convinced we’ re going
to end up on an episode of ‘ Hoarders’ .
Are there vintage things that you personally collect?
Globes, cameras, cigar boxes, metal tins, kitschy animal pictures, children’ s books,
wooden kashigata (Japanese sweets molds), and anything with a deer on it….
Where do you find your treasures?
Estate sales primarily, but I never pass up a garage sale, flea market or thrift store.
I love the thrill of the hunt.
Is your etsy shop your full time job?
I was trained and worked as a designer but somehow I always managed to make vintage
part of the job. I worked as a graphic designer and photo stylist for different ad agencies,
and an illustrator/animator for a media company. While in Tokyo I worked as a trend
researcher for a New York company. I started Sugar Cube Vintage on my return to the
US but still take on freelance projects doing prop and photo styling in Tokyo and here in
Portland. I always love it when other stylists and producers from big retailers (sorry, my
lips are sealed…) use my products for their shoots.
What is one memorable treasure hunting story you have?
The lines opening day for estate sales in Portland are long, standing in the rain
waiting for your number to be called you quickly make new friends. In one such line I
met the best friends of the woman whose estate was being sold. They told me that she
was a school librarian who traveled the world when she retired. Each of her friends had
come to the sale to pick out something to remember her by. It tops my list of estate sales,
you could tell she was an amazing woman by what was in her home. I found so many
treasures that day, the book “ The Very Hungry Caterpillar” in German, a wood block
Danish elephant puzzle…the list goes on and I couldn’ t bear to part with the majority of
finds. I did sell the librarian bell I found which I regret to this day.
Any advice for vintage sellers on etsy?
Yes: three things:
1: Always be on the hunt. I’m out buying almost every day, even if I’ m on vacation.
Whether you’ re in Amsterdam, Palm Springs, or back in your hometown for your high
school reunion, make time for some shopping and keep your eyes peeled….
2: Get organized early: find a system for shelving, cataloguing and record keeping.
Chances are you’ re going to get bigger than you originally thought, and having a
workable system up front will make your life easier when you start getting lots of
inventory.
3: Establish your brand. Maybe not right away, but over time you should start to focus
in on a specific genre, era or type/style of item. Eventually you’ ll start to find your
audience (or they’ ll start to find you).
Bec is also gracious enough to offer the Trunk readers 15% off in her shop with the Coupon Code 15SUGARCUBE go visit her and say Hello:)
SHOP TWITTER
Over-N-Out
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