Thrifters: The Hunt Is Where You’ll Find The Vintage Goods
Object hunting is a sport. When you find that needle in a haystack, it gives you the same rush as scoring the goal!
If you identify with that statement, you’ll want to know about The Hunt, a curated resale boutique in the heart of New Milford, Connecticut. The quote above is from the shop’s Instagram feed and owner Gina Lacey who, after several career switches, came back to her first passion, thrifting. It’s been a lifelong, self-proclaimed obsession, and now those of us who are into nostalgia, good deals and discovery are benefitting from her experience — and, we should add, good taste.
The first thing you notice upon entering The Hunt is that it’s bright and airy A dark and cluttered barn might be part of the thrifting experience elsewhere, but Lacey has carefully merchandised the antiques, collectibles, clothing and furniture in attractive zones. With 5,000 square feet, she can do that, making everything look impossibly appealing: cubbies of milk glass, baskets of rolling pins, Fiesta ware in cupboard shelves, old LPs in wooden crates. One slow day Lacey took everything off the shelves and reorganized by color, lending a rainbow effect of decorative and useful objects along one wall. Not a one is dusty or grimy. She estimates that of the houseware items, about 90% are vintage, 10% newer; with clothing, it’s the opposite proportion. The way she mixes old and new is part of the fun.
The store isn’t named The Hunt just for customers. Lacey herself is constantly on the prowl — she sources and hand picks everything in the store. Items come from estate sales and house and barn cleanouts. She does accept donations (make an appointment if you’re planning to do so) but doesn’t consign. Items she can’t use at the shop are re-donated to local not-for-profits. The clothing she does sell (for both men and women) is new or barely worn and she also stocks new and used accessories, including shoes. Lacey has an antipathy to fast fashion (“I’m big into taking care of Mother Earth”) and likes to encourage others to create their own style using second-hand clothing.
Mostly, though, if Lacey isn’t in the shop, she’s out hunting for goods, which she does around four days a week.
“On my days off, I still love to thrift. I’m just obsessed,” Lacey says. “I don’t have any clothing that wasn’t thrifted. I love housewares. If something makes me smile or makes me happy, like milk glass, or something I think other people might like, I stock it.”
Lacey never tires of hearing people exclaim that something brings them back to their childhood. “I love when people come in and see it more like a museum,” she says. It’s a chance to bring some family history back to the present.
Lacey’s obsession started early: she grew up tag saling and thrifting. Her grandfather had a passion for antiques. Every Sunday her family would go to her grandparents’ farm and have a big family dinner. Lacey would spend happy time in grandpa’s basement where he housed his antiques collection. Throughout her years as a fifth-grade teacher, which she left to raise her children, and then in her business providing administrative support for executives, she thrifted. A dozen years ago she opened a kids’ resale clothing shop on eBay, but got tired of all the fees eBay demanded.
“I finally decided it was time to jump ship and follow my heart,” Lacey says. “I quit my job in February 2020 and was supposed to open my shop in March.”
We all know how that went.But the pandemic only delayed the opening of that first space in Brookfield to May. By December 2020 Lacey had already outgrown the 750 square feet. When she saw the vacancy sign on the space on Bank Street, located in New Milford’s downtown, she took another plunge. She didn’t have any trouble filling the enormous space.
Like any thrift shop, things come in and go out quickly. Offerings constantly change with new items every day. And there’s more: The lower level houses a men’s shop, a vintage women’s couture shop, an art gallery, a used book emporium. These are spaces Lacey sublets to round out the selection upstairs. It's almost like a compact department store for collectors.
Her words of advice in advance of a trip to The Hunt?
“Come in with an open mind…and make sure you have enough time to take it in.”
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