Our CEO shares his story on starting Check it Vintage

This story starts in my hometown Żory, Poland back in 2015.

My friend and I would be coming at 7 in the morning to queue for the second-hand store’s opening. Back then in our city, no one was digging for clothes so in the queue we were standing between lovely babushka’s (older ladies). Then, we would be running inside to find the best vintage pieces. We were bboys so were looking for clothes to look fresh when breakdancing… And this warehouse was perfect for our budget!

After some time, my best friend and I started working at this exact warehouse. 

We would unload trucks with heavy bags of clothes and then ladies inside would set prices and put them on rails.

The place was not paying much but we were allowed to look through the clothes before anyone else so it made up for the low salary. By then, we already knew what’s good what’s not and how much it was worth it.

My first Burberry find was a nova check wool trousers. I got them for 9 zł (2£).

Starting from small sales for friends, one day I decided to call one of the biggest vintage stores in Poland (back in 2017) where I started as one of the vendors. On my first delivery, I brought in some North Face Jackets, Nike windbreakers, Adidas trousers, Ralph Lauren jumpers and old Reebok stuff. All of these sold instantly and I could not believe that people wanted vintage so much. My Burberry trousers sold for 400 zł (80£).

We worked together for 2 years but then I decided to move forward…

Nevertheless, this experience had opened my mind. I now had the vision to sell only Burberry vintage products as not many people could distinguish real from the fake and that’s where I saw an opportunity.

I made the FB group ‘Burberry Talk UK/EU’ where people could discuss the authenticity of vintage products. I started to learn by reading through old forums and articles, looking for as much information as I could find.

In 2019 I moved to the UK, London…

I started to work as a vendor for one amazing vintage store as the main source but I was also supplying others with coats, jackets and of course, I was still selling on FB groups or via other apps. By then, I was making more than enough to live comfortably.

In October 2019, I opened my first small boutique in Wood Street Indoor Market. It wasn’t very busy but the people were lovely and it felt amazing to work in my own space. 

In February 2020, I moved to a bigger venue at 106 Commercial Street. It was exciting as here I got to meet some of the renowned vintage community sellers. I also had the honour to meet Sean Wotherspoon, when he came to my market. It was a remarkable experience… 

And then… Lockdown happened… So I was focusing on selling trough Asos and Depop. We made a small studio in my room to take pictures and luckily, my housemate was a photographer and his girlfriend agreed to model with my clothes.

In July 2020, I moved to Brick Lane Vintage Market. Here I opened my store and the company started to grow excessively. I am now meeting people from around the world and some become my loyal customers that keep coming back and supporting my vision. This store made my dream become reality. My vision to let people purchase high-fashion products for an affordable price became alive and keeps thriving.

I plan to keep growing, travelling, sharing my vision with people and expanding. Soon enough I want to open a new store.