Today we’d like to introduce you to Harley Motsinger and Nathan Huff.
So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
It all started about several years ago when Nathan and I asked our family for any of their old unwanted clothing and donations. With these donations, we started a yard sale. We enjoyed it so much, so we started to do it more frequently. With the money we raised from these yard sales, we decided to invest in booths or spots at swap meets. We became regulars at the Cypress College Swap Meet and Pasadena Rose Bowl.
After a while of this, we decided to go a step up and invest our money in a small little shop in Uptown Whittier. We originally opened as a thrift shop and continued to accept donations. Before we knew it, we had more donations than we knew what to do with. We started donating interview attire to a local charity, St Matthias Episcopal Church. We had tons of old t-shirts as well. Nathan always had admired that I cut my tshirts since middle school. It was his original idea to start cutting our old tees and selling them with my artwork. That’s how Harley’s Chop Shop was born. We began buying brand new band t-shirts to cut up. After a year of having our shop in Uptown Whittier, we decided to close and focus our business online and in consignment shops. Closing our shop location was a very good move for our business and have been even more successful since then.
We are currently in Music Revolution in Whittier and Stray Cat Records in Fullerton. We also work and collaborate with companies on their products and provide custom cuts wholesale. We’ve worked with companies like Human Unlimited, Street Wise Gear, Radicle Clothing Co., Los Angeles Harley Davidson dealership, and more! We offer the service of cutting at events, our latest event was at the Los Angeles Harley Davidson Dealership this past month. We now have our own website at www.harleyschopshop.com. Now we are working on new designs from home that go to our consignment shops and online stores. With these new designs, we work with local talents like models, makeup artists, and photographers in the area, which you can see all our work on our Instagram and Facebook @harleyschopshop. We are open to collaborating with other artists to bring exposure to them and their artwork such as makeup artist, Marilyn Walters. This past year we have been growing our YouTube Channel to bring customers and fans DIY videos how to cut clothing and interview small business owners across the US and more!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Nathan and I have overcome a lot of obstacles and struggles to get us where we are. The biggest struggle for us was accepting that things are constantly changing in the world and business. We try our best to be prepared for those changes, whatever they may be, but sometimes it’s easier said than done. We take all the blows that life puts on us and keep coming. Whenever something knocks us down, the biggest struggle is how we deal with it afterwards. Life will have disappointments and let downs, but it’s all about how you handle it and keep pushing forward.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Harley’s Chop Shop – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Harley’s Chop Shop specializes in custom cut alternative clothing. We cut regular clothing into cut masterpieces. We also specialize in acid wash designs. Customers can even bring in their own clothing to get upgraded with our chops. Our mission statement is to continue to provide clothing we wish we saw in the world. We take pride in providing amazing customer service and an experience with cut clothing that you will never forget. I self-taught myself to cut clothing and learned how to use a sewing machine, to provide our customers with an array of choices and services. What sets me apart from others is that not only do I make these cut creations but I also wear them in my personal wardrobe. By wearing my creations, it brings life to my artwork. I’d like to see more people in custom cut clothing and it’s my goal to do so! Not everyone is the same, so why should our clothing be?
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Harley’s Chop Shop plans for the future will hopefully be geared to more events. We have been growing our following over the years on social media and we wish to connect with our fans and meet in real life. We are also considering offering our services for private parties. Currently, we are working on some new products for our online store. Our goal is to get into even more consignment shops and work with more artists on collaborations and projects.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.harleyschopshop.com
- Phone: (562) 458-3962
- Email: Harleyschopshop@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/harleyschopshop
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/harleyschopshopusa
- Twitter: https://mobile.twitter.com/harleyschopshop
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuKsmLCzHc4kO28cXwSt6RQ
Image Credit:
Photographer Nathan Huff @mrtakeyourpicture
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