Hidden Gems: Meet Tisha Gamez of THE VINTAGE PEDDLER

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tisha Gamez

Tisha, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I started The Vintage Peddler after selling my beloved bookshop. I took my passion, knowledge, and experience of bookselling and combined it with my love for all things vintage. The reason for selling my bookstore was simply geography, my travel time was almost three hours a day and I couldn’t continue spending my life commuting.

Once I made the decision to sell the shop, it sold very quickly. (And I’m happy to report the bookshop is still thriving today under the new owner.) As I look back to two years ago, I think my decision to open a bookshop/vintage collective was similar to rebounding after a break-up. And although the sale of my business went as smoothly as it possibly could’ve gone, it was stressful and in many ways heartbreaking. There’s a social stigma attached to moving too quickly after a breakup; yet, if life experience has taught me anything, it’s that when opportunity presents itself you’ve got to trust yourself–trust your heart, and jump.

Taking that jump, puts you in the decision-circle, “placing you inside the loop,” writes Amy Wilkinson, author of “The Creator’s Code: The Six Essential Skills of Extraordinary Entrepreneurs.” It’s in the decision-circle that we observe, orient, decide and act,” So, yes, rebounding after a breakup can be risky, but it does have its benefits, one being it can be healing in the sense of letting one love go and embracing another.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Yes, it has been an incredibly smooth road–generally and specifically. Generally because this is my third store. I sold my first vintage shop more than twenty years ago (and just like my bookstore, I’m happy to report, it too is still thriving). Hence, when I decided to open another store, I drew from my both my experience and my passion for books and all things vintage.

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about THE VINTAGE PEDDLER?
As my bio for the store states: The Vintage Peddler is a new exciting vintage shop located in the heart of Simi Valley. My store is a vintage eclectic marketplace offering a unique and whimsical blend of old and new. The Vintage Peddler carries VINTAGE clothes, art, collectables, furniture, linens, and books (old, new, rare, and special editions. I emphasize the word vintage because that’s exactly what the store’s focus is, to BE vintage. Yet, I do, carry a large selection of new children’s books, as well as adult classic, and bestselling titles.

What sets The Vintage Peddler apart from other antique/vintage malls is not only its commitment to being truly vintage, but it’s the variety we offer our customers. There are more than thirty dealers that are part of the store, each one brings their own passion, creativity, and personality with them. And although I’m located in Simi Valley (the gateway to Ventura County), many of our regular customers come from all over the Los Angeles area. Bill Dudley, owner of Dudley’s Records in Torrance, consigns a large selection of vintage vinyl records. Twice a month Bill takes the trip out to our store to take away and restock records. Bill calls The Vintage Peddler, “Dudley’s to the North” and we couldn’t be more proud to carry his records.

What also sets The Vintage Peddler apart from other antique/vintage shops is my support for local authors. By hosting book signing events authors have a venue in which to gain the exposure their book needs. It’s a win, win for both of us. An author is given the opportunity to build their profile as an indie author, and we (as an indie shop) benefit from the new customers a book event delivers to our store.

I’m proud of everything about The Vintage Peddler. Brand wise, our customers know us for being a clean, consistently open, cool and friendly vintage shop, We make it our business to know our customers. To know what they like–what their tastes and preferences are. Many of our customers we know by name. We know their families, their kids, even their pets. Many of my customers, I now call friend.

I have two exceptional women who work the store. Harriet and Melissa aren’t just employees, they’re also dealers in my store. Both bring to The Vintage Peddler their years of experience, knowledge and passion for the vintage business. They’re not volunteers (something you see all too often in this business), this isn’t a hobby for them, it’s a vocation, and they take their jobs seriously and it shows. Moreover, our customers know us for merchandise that’s always changing. With a busy store such as ours, and with thirty dealers selling under one roof, there is a constant turnover of merchandise. One of the requirements for being a dealer at The Vintage Peddler is that you come in and work your space once a week. It’s an expectation that not only sets us apart, but will continue to serve us by making us a better and more exciting store for our customers.

Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
I grew into being a reader because of my father. He loved to read. I’ll always remember him with a book in his hand. He didn’t believe in buying books (not such a good thing if your a bookseller), but he loved the library the way I love old bookshops.

I grew up shopping secondhand shops. Not because it was cool or trendy, but out of neccessity. My father was an orphan from Eastern Europe–he came with nothing, and learned to live with very little. Buying anything new never made sense to him, if you could get the same thing (just a tad worn) why not buy it secondhand. I can’t remember ever wearing much that wasn’t already worn. And since we all know that necessity is the mother of invention, it’s from this ‘mother,’ that the vintage lover in me was born.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://thevintagepeddler.net
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thevintagepeddlersimivalley/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tishthevintagepeddler/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-vintage-peddler-simi-valley