Today we’d like to introduce you to Melissa Lokos and Brandon Amato.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Brandon and I initially began collecting vintage clothing for ourselves to wear in our day to day lives. We shopped flea markets, antique malls, vintage stores and online. During the early 2000’s eBay was an amazing place to find rare vintage. You would just type what specific vintage you desired in the search engine and abracadabra, there it was! But, that didn’t mean you would always win the auctions/listings. Some vintage would sell for Astronomical prices. A perfect example of this vintage craze was the year 2008. 1940s and 1950s men’s/women’s Hawaiian cottons and rayon were selling for $1000s of dollars for a single piece. I myself saw this “trend” and sold 2 of my 1940s rayon Hawaiian dresses by Kamehameha for $5,000 for the pair.
As we shopped all over California and the United States we found a lot of vintage treasures for incredible prices. Just like eBay not being able to win every auction the same goes for vintage shopping, simply not everything will be your size. If the price was right, we would by what we found on our adventures and sell to close friends or list the items on eBay.
Over the years, eBay became incredibly difficult to deal with so keeping up with trends, we moved to Etsy in 2010. We had so much fun sourcing vintage, having our friends model, and selling. As we began to accumulate more and more vintage clothing, we thought why not give expos or pop-ups a try. Through doing pop-ups and markets such as golden years vintage market in downtown Santa Ana, we noticed how amazing our clientele is! We would always seem to have plenty of vintage shoppers sometimes running out of change or shopping bags.
Finally in 2017, a warm June day Brandon and I stepped out for Mexican food in the famous 1950s twin palms shopping center in wonderful Whittier, CA. 1.3 miles from our home in South Whittier. As we left the restaurant with our stomach full of chips/salsa, we noticed a “for lease” sign at a neighboring storefront.
We contacted our dear friend Juanita who owns Rockies Frozen yogurt another business within the twin palms village and she gave our information to the property manager. In the matter of three days, we got a phone call for a viewing of the storefront. We saw the shop on a Sunday and by Monday we signed the lease. My mom Carmina Lokos was my rock during this entire process, remember I stepped out for Mexican food on a warm June night and came back with a vintage store. Brandon and I with the help of family and friends had the boutique open in less than three weeks. Our grand opening was July 4th, 2017.
Since the beginning, I wanted Crash the Party Vintage to be a boutique exclusively for 1940s and 1950s enthusiasts, as that is what we specialize in. To this day, that is what we curate our boutique towards 40s and 50s clothing, shoes, & accessories. It works! We are very happy and beyond blessed with the best shoppers a small time business could ever ask for. There’s not a day that goes by that we regret opening our vintage boutique.
Fun fact: you can not find us on Google, Yelp, or any other platform. We consider ourselves a speakeasy of vintage shops. We believe word of mouth will get us where we want to go. Quality vintage at fair prices seems to keep the people coming back for more.
Great, 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?
Smooth road? No. Hahahaha. My husband is a full-time tattooer and I myself kept my waitressing job. As of a few days ago, I resigned from waitressing, I had this same job for almost 13 years. This is huge for me but I decided it’s time to focus exclusively on Crash the Party.
There’s sleep deprivation. The struggles to source vintage. Vintage business is Highly competitive. Trial and error. Constantly running around between tailors, dry cleaners, post offices, and sometimes we even do vintage home deliveries.
Owning a vintage Boutique, the number 1 thing that we never prepared ourselves for was supply and demand. Holy guacamole, you love it when a shopper comes through and buys multiple pieces but then you also secretly are terrified because now you have to figure where to go next to find more vintage stock. As Brandon & I say, Vintage clothing does not grow on trees.
Crash the Party Vintage – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Crash the Party Vintage is a small family business.
We love clothing, shoes, furniture accessories, and more from 1940s and 1950s. We heavily emphasize our stock on the 1950s. We love separates! Pants, shirts, tops, skirts, swimsuits, rompers, and even lingerie all from the 1950s. Dresses are wonderful but not everybody wants us dress. People know when they need the little things to come to us.
We are open six days a week. A refrigerator full of snacks, sodas, and beer for our shoppers. Yes, beer! It is not uncommon for us to have champagne and mimosas with our party Crashers too! Don’t worry we also have a restroom for all our guests. After a long drive to find us, or sipping on soda… shopping with a full badder ain’t no fun. Use the restroom. Lol
We are most proud of our party Crashers. We don’t like using the word clients. So, if you shop at Crash the Party Vintage. You are a party Crasher! Seriously, we never thought in a million years our boutique would attract people from all over the world simply by word a mouth. Everyone who has walked through door has been incredible and extremely supportive for that we are eternally grateful.
What sets us apart? We are honest. There is no amount of money worth lying for. If something doesn’t feel right with an interaction/transaction, we encourage people to put the vintage back on the rack and keep looking. People love the fact that we are tell the truth or ask them “how do you feel?”. We try our best to make about an experience. Hugs, exchange of stories, laughter, and vintage seem to be our secret combination for happiness.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Proudest moment? That’s a tough one.
The proudest moment, being able to hire our shop manager Cynthia. Again, never did we think we would have anyone to help us. To know we are not alone and to be able to trust someone with our life’s work. Cynthia is very special and our party Crashers love her! She’s a true treasure.
By having Cynthia we are able to work or simply enjoy family time and she keeps the doors at Crash the Party Open when we can’t.
Contact Info:
- Address: 14748 Whittier Blvd Whittier CA 90605
- Phone: 5623519526
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: Crashtheparty_
Image Credit:
Bless the Vintage by Louie Teran
Getting in touch: VoyageLA is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
