Today we’d like to introduce you to Alisa Lindsey.
Alisa, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
After graduating college with a degree in Biochemistry I took a job in the pawn industry to pay the bills while I looked for a job with my career but soon enough fell in love with the business and climbed my way up the corporate ladder. After several years in a corporate chain, I was recruited by Todd Hills who had big dreams for his small chain of stores and wanted me to be a part of it. Todd became my mentor teaching me so much about business and about hard work and how to treat your employees. When he decided to sell the company in 2007 he offered me a partnership to move to Utah and start a new chain of shops there. I took that challenge head on and grew it to seven stores in four years and in 2011 we sold them for 11 million.
I was grateful for everything that adventure taught but at that time I was not quite ready to move on so I stayed with the new owners and ran the operation for them for a few more years before I decided it was time to go back into business ownership. I knew I didn’t want to stay in Utah and my son moved to LA so I decided to take the plunge and move back to California and open up my own store. I decided on Uptown for many reasons one being it was a similar business concept that I had been doing all my life just with clothes instead of electronics and Jewelry. Back in Utah it was my son and his friends favorite store to shop and I felt the 2nd clothing business was seeing a resurgence in popularity so a good time to get in it. I have lots of family in South Bay and they told me you have to open down here as there is nothing like you around. They had to drive to either Santa Monica or Long Beach to sell their clothes. So the hunt began and the road for opening started.
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?
First off it was a hard decision just to decide to go out on my own and leave the comfort of a large steady salary, health benefits and five weeks paid vacation. But I knew I wanted to be my own boss and give myself a challenge. I thrived off the pressure and needed the new passion for success. It was definitely a hard road and a struggle the first year we opened. To start we had lots of delays with permits and construction and for a girl who has worked everyday since she was 15 the wait took its toll. However finally, after a year from when we started we finally opened. They always say the first year is the hardest I can agree they ain’t lying. I have never felt the stress more and their were days I questioned if I made the right choice.
My son Brady who is my biggest cheerleader and who also works with me while he pursues his passion for drag and acting was always pushing me on days I was struggling. But we kept trucking along making sure that we took care of all our customers and kept working on buying the best quality product. Word started to spread around town and business has been fantastic. I love hearing everyday from our customers how this is their favorite place to shop and how they tell all their friends to come in as well. We have local businesses that they will all come shopping on their lunch hour to find the latest and greatest items. I love when I am at the buy counter and one of my customers comes in and I can call their name and ask how their job interview last week went or the vacation to Aruba. I love building relationships with all of them because to me they are my family and they are coming into my home and I want them to feel welcomed and loved.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Uptown Cheapskate – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We are a buy sell clothing store that gives Cash for Clothes and sells them at affordable pricing. We specialize in current trends of men’s and ladies fashion, shoes and accessories. We have a wide variety of brands from designers like Gucci and Louis Vuitton to your sportswear Nike and Adidas and for the Fashionable teens Brandy Melville and Fashion Nova. We do also love a good vintage find as that is popular right now so you never know what you might find in our racks. One of the appeals of our store is definitely the organization, selection and service. I have an amazing team that works so hard and I could not be more thankful for all they do. We have so many amazing customers that have become like family and we always want to build lasting relationships with them. One thing that I do love about our store is we also give back to our community. Any of the clothes we don’t take if the customer chooses can donate them for a tax write off and all goes to benefit Safe Place for Youth a local outreach program in Venice to help homeless youth.
So, what’s next? Any big plans?
I am hoping to expand into the Los Angeles market in the next few years. Would love to have a storefront on Melrose. But for now, all my focus is on making my current store the go-to location for sustainable fashion.
Contact Info:
- Address: Uptown Cheapskate
20725 Hawthorne Blvd
Torrance CA 90503 - Website: Www.uptowncheapskate.com/torrance
- Phone: 424-452–6097
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: @uptowntorrance
- Facebook: @uptowntorrance
Image Credit:
All my photos Alisa Lindsey
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