Chicago has a thriving vintage community and thankfully several of my friends are able to live the dream and sell antique and vintage items full time. It can be difficult pursuing a non-traditional career path, so I'm always interested in hearing the story behind the etsy shops, antique mall spaces and flea market booths.First up in this interview series is India Shannon, the woman behind Apartment 528, a 2-year-old online shop that sells both vintage and handmade wares. Recently she opened a brick and mortar studio space, in a West Town artists loft building, where she refinishes furniture and holds a pop up shop event once a month. The 26-year-old India has a background in broadcast journalism and PR and moved to Chicago 2 years ago from Boston. She hawks her wares at The Randolph Street Market and The Vintage Bazaar with the help of her husband Jerome.
Her studio space was recently featured in Daily Candy and the photo I took below was included in the article. Scroll through to read the Q & A with India.
How did you get into buying vintage/secondhand? What was your first purchase?In high school, my friends and I would go to thrift stores looking for cool old t-shirts and sweatshirts. I was also in to wearing men's ties back then. Getting them at a thrift store was much cheaper and there was always a quirky assortment to choose from. The first tie I ever bought and wore was burgundy with a Parisian restaurant scene on the bottom. I still have it!
What do you personally collect?
I'm really into globes right now. And kaleidoscopes. And fabric. And random art. And tapestries. And chairs, though they're harder to collect without living in chair land.
How have your tastes evolved since you first started collecting? I actually think my taste in vintage has been pretty steady. I still have some of the same furniture and decor from our first apartment and if we could have made the rest of it to fit in the trailer when we moved to Chicago, I would have brought everything here. I'm constantly scouring craigslist for new furniture not because I want something vastly different, but because because I want something ELSE. There are so many amazing designs out there that I can't imagine owning one piece forever. I think the biggest change in our style has been less Ikea and more vintage...we've been vintage-and-handmade-only for three and a half years now. Color is the other change. I switch my wall colors around each time we move. I go between 70's kitsch (like brown, mustard, orange, avocado, teal) and what I call my Alice in Wonderland colors (lime greens, pinks, black, and turquoise). Right now we're cycling through the latter.
Describe the aesthetic/style of Apt528. What is the typical Apt528 customer like? I like to say we're retro mod or kitschy mod. Apt528 is about bright colors, clean lines, and quirky designs. We're stuck somewhere in the 60's...still coveting the defined lines of the 50's while embracing the incoming bold colors and ornate woodwork of the incoming 70's. Think "Brady Bunch" or "That Girl"!
As for our typical customer, I'd say we don't really have one. Between customers sending pictures of our products in their homes and customers asking us to source furniture and kitchenware for them, I've learned that our fan base is all over the board. Some are Scandinavian-modern, another urban with wood and steel, several are grad students looking for small ways to brighten up their housing, and some are even traditional. I think the fact that our customer base is so varied is what makes this business awesome! It's great to think that people are able to picture our products in such varied settings. We like people with imagination.
What items have been selling well for Apt528? Do you see any trends?Lately our customers have been into the little things like cooking utensils, ice cream scoops, mixing bowls and other kitchenware. I think right now people are at a place where buying pricey items isn't realistic so they're spending more money on smaller, useful things that are easier to justify. Maybe they can't afford a new credenza right now but they can afford to buy a super cool cheese grater or food chopper. On the other end, we're selling a lot of art and picture frames lately. I think it's mostly because it's spring and people are ready to update their apartments.
You sell vintage full time. What are the challenges you face as a small business owner? Stability. It's hard not knowing a steady paycheck is coming. Being the person responsible for everything isn't always fun either. Sometimes I wish there was a fall guy to blame things on when I make a mistake! Or someone to delegate to. Or an assistant to bring me tea! It's also weird being my own boss. I get to the studio by 8:30a everyday and if I'm late, I actually get mad at myself...it's as bad as if I had a supervisor. Of course, it's awesome having flexibility. I subscribe to the idea that it doesn't matter how many hours you put it, it just matters that the work is done. So if there's a day where I'd rather sift through back issues of House Beautiful instead of sanding down a desk, that's okay, as long as the desk gets sanded down by the deadline. The best part of working for myself is that I can watch "Murder, She Wrote", "That Girl" and "The Nanny" on DVD while I work and there's no one around to complain.
What drew you to vintage housewares/furniture over jewelry or clothing? Back in the day, I was way into fashion. I dressed like I decorate...a rainbow of colorful tights, shoes, gloves, socks, blouses, and jewelry. To this day, I can't pass up a pair of brightly colored socks. But as I went from living with the family I nannied for to moving in with roommates to getting my own place with Jerome, I started to spend less and less money and time on my wardrobe and more on my apartment. I found that what was most important to me was being comfortable in the space I lived in. Being able to express my creativity on such a HUGE canvas was exhilarating. I started blogging about my decorating adventures and reading other design blogs. It was addictive! When we decided to open the store, it was only natural that we'd go into housewares. I'm now so far removed from the fashion scene that I don't know if there's any turning back!
How does the vintage/thrifted scene in Chicago differ from Boston or other places you've shopped? Boston's an older city so the mid-century and retro scene isn't as big as it is here in Chicago. I had to dig harder and wait for a longer period of time to find furniture that I liked. There were less thrift stores to choose from and estate sales weren't very popular so I had to do most of my shopping on craigslist. Now that we're in Chicago, it's like a retro wonderland which is both good and bad. There's more to choose from, but there are so many people dealing furniture on the side that there's a lot of competition to find things either for our house or for the store. I'm actually hoping the mid-century trend ends soon so that only those of us who truly love the style are left :)
What's your shopping strategy at a thrift store or flea market? Do you have a method to deal with the chaos? Nope! I go to the housewares/bric-a-brac sections and furniture if they have it but I have no real order. If my husband's with me, he goes to the book area first and then looks through the records.
Without giving away any of your secrets, where do you like shopping in Chicago for your own home? (Can be thrift stores or curated vintage stores) Craigslist. The thrift stores here are more expensive than I'm used to and I'm still trying to figure out estate sales. Craigslist is my comfort zone. If there's something specific that I'm looking for and I don't want to wait to randomly find it somewhere, I'll buy it from the vintage section on Etsy. I know what it's like to be an online retailer so I try to support others in the biz whenever possible. I'm also a lover of the Vintage Bazaar. We've been dealers at the Bazaar several times now and each time, I find something awesome to buy. In terms of brick and mortar stores, I'm a fan of Lenny and Me over on Milwaukee Ave. I've never bought anything from them but our styles are pretty similar.
Your husband, Jerome, helps you run Apt528. How does his style differ from yours? He's your typical guy...he's not into interior design and he loves anything black, blue, or green. When we first met, I think he only owned grey sweatshirts but over the past 6 years, I've brought him over to the bright side. Now he's officially color-infused! Jerome's less kitsch than I am and likes to keep things streamlined and basic. I'm the DIY-er in the relationship so I'm more likely to see potential in something that he thinks is trash but once the project is done, he's always happy! We have yet to fight about decorating styles.
Where do you see Apt528 going in the future? From the very beginning back when we were just a blog, our end goal was always to have a store that was more than a store. I can't give away my vision yet, but there will be food involved, our shared love of music, and Jerome's passion for books. Plus a super cool building of course! We're also looking forward to hosting our own street markets geared towards renters who want affordable decor and furniture.
India told me 8-tracks sell well for her-- obsolete technology is "in" again. A selection of 8-tracks above and a player to go with them.
I'm posing in a 1970s vinyl and wood chair with one of my favorite products for sale, an embroidered pillow depicting a house.
Chalkboard paint has been big in the diy and handcrafted community but I'd never seen it applied to skulls. The chalkboard skulls are handmade one at a time so each is unique.
India always has a selection of film cameras, projectors and other vintage technology in stock. Above is a Argus 500 Electromatic Projector, perfect for showing off all those old family slides!
Stash your treats in style with this 1970s typographic cookie jar. I love my self-identifying kitchen goods so was of course drawn to this jar.
I've recently started collecting vintage Mexican folk pottery so was drawn to this sweet handpainted bird (pigeon?) from Tonala, Mexico. I believe it's from the 1960s or 1970s.
India's husband, Jerome, hard at work at a 1970s steel Tanker desk in the studio space.Can't get enough of the Apartment 528 style? Check out India and Jerome's home tour published in Time Out Chicago last summer.