Hidden Gems: Meet Ryan Burke of The Vintage Vault

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ryan Burke.  

Hi Ryan, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
I started thrifting about 6 years ago and when it started it was just a hobby and a way to make some quick cash while I was in college. I was living in Kalamazoo at the time and would hit all the thrifts around the area and eventually was able to set up a mini showroom in my apartment living room. About 3 months into my thrifting career, I did my first event, and I made $1200 in 5 hours that really opened my eyes to the fact that this could turn into a career because it would take me 2 weeks to make that at a normal job and I was truly happy doing it! I really started taking thrifting seriously, but my passion was specifically with vintage clothing. I thought it was so unique that a vintage t-shirt could bring back so many memories you’ve forgotten about and take you back to a different point in your life. Because of my passion for vintage clothing, 2 of my good friends and I thought it would be a great idea to start throwing vintage clothing events and have thrown 3 events to date each being more successful than the last. That’s where my brother and Co-owner of the vintage vault grew his passion. Dylan would vend my booth at the event while I was catering to the attendees and vendors making sure everything was going smoothly he enjoyed seeing all the vintage clothes and meeting all the people with such a passion for vintage that he started his own collection and about a year later we decided we should open up our own retail store. We’ve been open at the vintage vault for 2 months now, and it’s been a dream come true I never thought we would be as successful as we’ve been so far and would have such loyal and awesome customers this early on. It’s seriously been a dream come true for us. 

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
A huge obstacle for us was actually putting the shop together. We signed our lease in April and only had a month to put the shop together, and it was not easy; luckily, our dad is a carpenter and was a huge help with everything. We had to drywall our entire space, put down wooden flooring, and a whole lot more, and it was very stressful wondering if we were going to finish on time, but we cranked it out and finished just in time! 

Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Here at The Vintage Vault, we specialize in Vintage Clothing, Streetwear, and Sneakers. We curate the best selection of vintage clothing in the area at an affordable cost for everyone involved. Our main goal at the vintage vault is to get the right product to the right person. Aside from vintage clothing, we also provide our customers with sold-out sneakers for the most affordable price! Mainly Jordans, Nikes, off-white, anything we feel like our customers want, we seek out for them! We also carry streetwear which includes Supreme, Bape, off-white, Fear of God, and more! We like to share the significance of vintage clothing to our supporters by explaining the difference of the quality of clothing back in the day compared to today’s fast fashion clothing. Shopping second-hand clothing is also great for the environment, and we really like to raise the importance to everyone about what we can do to take care of the planet 

Risk-taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Personally, I feel like it was a big risk opening up our shop, but sometimes you need to take risks in order to make your dreams come true. I don’t think anybody has become successful and run their own business without taking some sort of risk, and it was the right time for us to take that leap 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: www.Instagram.com/Thevintagevaultclawson
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Vintage-Vault-Clawson-104139692288260

Image Credits
Ryan Burke
Dylan Burke