If you’re looking for an outfit to complete your 90s street style aesthetic, Gold Vintage on Cork Street has you covered from head to toe.
Gold Vintage moved into 43 Cork St. two months ago. Originally their shop started in 2018 in Georgetown but the market was limited in a smaller town.
Connor Lepage, co-owner of the shop, said they are trying to take in the university crowd as their target demographic.
“It's a good spot. It's not too saturated for the kind of style that we sell,” said Lepage about why the business moved to Guelph.
Lepage and co-owner Wayne Rogers found their passion for vintage in high school and started their business after they graduated. Their Georgetown store closed this year, and a new chapter for Gold Vintage began.
“Here, there's a lot more people fluctuating coming in,” said Lepage.
“We do buy, sell, trade in-store, but we mainly do our own sourcing from general resale chain supply,” said Lepage.
Customers can also bring in their items and receive cash or store credit, if you have what Gold Vintage is looking for.
Graphic tees, plaid button-downs, bucket hats, Carhart pants and limited Nike Dunk shoes can be found at the store.
“I think that the whole 90s thing is really cool. It’s definitely my favourite. So I think that, that's how we’ll stick around for a little bit,” he said.
Lepage was wearing a pair of Nike pants, a black t-shirt with a small graphic in the front and a large one in the back, a vintage hat and a pair of New Balance sneakers, when GuelphToday interviewed him.
“Everything is considered unisex for us, like a lot of girls come in and buy everything that guys would buy, like oversized T-shirts, sweaters, pants, we have all sizes of pants,” said Lepage.
“A lot of sportswear, like university style stuff. Patagonia, Dante's, anything with a big graphic really just does well,” he said.
“I mean, every week, in-store we pretty well try to keep everything authentic vintage.”
He said buying vintage can be a lot more affordable than buying new. With some items ranging from $30 to $50.
Within walking distance downtown other vintage stores are situated like Patch, Wild Rose Consignment Clothing, Outpost Vintage, and Vintage Instincts.
“Everyone just kind of does their own thing, right. Like everyone tries to make their social media platform look as cool as possible. And everyone does a pretty good job. So just kind of pushing it online. And maybe like having the best stuff, that helps,” said Lepage.
Gold Vintage does Instagram story sales where they post items on the page’s story and people can claim them by sending a direct message, paying via e-transfer and later picking up their purchase.
When shopping for vintage, buy something you feel comfortable in, Lepage said.
“You can never really go around with a nice vintage crew neck. Carhartt stuff is always a good bet,” he said.
“Like everything plays in, but for me, skate culture is my favourite part about vintage.”
