This Richmond shop sells secondhand vintage clothes. Here is their holiday forecast

Owners of Richmond’s True Heart Vintage is gearing up for the holiday season while also celebrating a big milestone: Being in business for a year.

True Heart Vintage opened in December 2023 and exclusively sells vintage clothing and encourages customers to buy fewer clothes to keep out of landfills.

Not far from Eastern Kentucky University, the store’s customers are college-aged kids looking for 1990s vintage and Y2K clothing. Owners Aaron and Sarah Bentley say they know this holiday season will be a success if they stay busy while students are away from school for the holidays.

Name of business: True Heart Vintage

Owners: Aaron and Sarah Bentley, partners

Location and hours: 221 W Irvine St., Richmond, KY. True Heart Vintage is open noon-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. It’s closed Thanksgiving and Christmas. The store opened Dec. 1, 2023.

Merchandise focus or mission of the company: We sell secondhand vintage clothing (anything 20-plus years old) to encourage people to buy fewer new clothes and keep old clothes out of landfills.

What’s so special or unique about your business: We are the only store in Richmond that exclusively sells vintage clothing, and we strive to have the most competitive prices of any vintage store in the region.

Forecast for the upcoming holiday season?

We are forecasting a better sales cycle this year because we have been established for a year. More people know about our store, and we’ve successfully converted many first-time shoppers into regulars. Everyone loves fashion and saving money. When they learn about our store, they learn they can find something unique and better quality than fast-fashion alternatives.

What’s the mood of shoppers this year?

Many of our shoppers are college and high school students who may not feel the squeeze of inflation and price gouging. But our shoppers are always in a good mood because they see the 90s and Y2K fashion from their youth or their parents’ youth.

Any new marketing approaches this year?

On top of our normal social media marketing and staging multiple events on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus, we are running a Buy One Get One 50% off sale starting on Shop Small Saturday (Nov. 29.) We are also celebrating our first anniversary all December with a special in-store gift card scavenger hunt.

You’ll know the 2024 holiday shopping season was successful if…

We stay busy while EKU students are home for the holidays, and those students are engaging with our social media telling us they can’t wait to be back in Richmond to shop with us in the new year.

This story was originally published November 21, 2024 at 4:45 AM.

Taylor Six

Lexington Herald-Leader

Taylor Six is the criminal justice reporter at the Herald-Leader. She was born and raised in Lexington attending Lafayette High School. She graduated from Eastern Kentucky University in 2018 with a degree in journalism. She previously worked as the government reporter for the Richmond Register.