The Cary Vintage Market is a place where people of all different ages and stages in life can come and discover their new favorite vintage pieces, from clothing to houseware to music. It’s the diversity of the age range of shoppers, founder Claire Nobles says, that makes The Cary Vintage Market so special.
“There’s no other market I’ve ever been to where you will see a 15-year-old shopping and an 80-year-old shopping, and everyone in between, and everyone is finding things. To me, that is something you don’t see anywhere else. I’ve never been to a vintage market that has that. That’s my favorite part about this, I just think that’s really cool. It fits the community and makes the market feel so much more communal and feels like something that everyone can enjoy. It’s more like a shopping experience than it is an organized thrifting experience, and I think it’s fun that way.”
From meeting Claire firsthand, it’s clear she cares deeply about both her customers and vendors. She’s a natural born entrepreneur with a passion for classic clothing, and she thrives best when she has a lot on her plate. We sat down with Claire in the middle of a busy day at The Cary Vintage Market and learned more about how she got her start and where the market is heading.
Can you talk about how you created The Cary Vintage Market?
I’m the kind of person who needs to be doing something all the time. I swam in college, I swam here, so I’ve always been used to having too many things on my plate. I didn’t have much going on last year except for my own business, and I wanted to do more, so here I am! I got into doing my own business two years ago, and I started doing markets a few months later. I took a break from doing markets for a year and came back and started doing them again last June. It was actually on my birthday, which was really fun and it went really great. I’ve been doing them in Durham and Raleigh, and I realized that Durham is a very different vibe from what I sell. I do very minimalistic and basic pieces, and Durham is a little more hipster-y and a little more into the Y2K fashion, which is great, but it’s just not my style. Raleigh is definitely more my vibe, but Raleigh has so many markets already. I was like ‘I kind of want to do something that’s different in the area’. I wanted it to be in Cary, because I’m from here and I felt like it was going to be a good scene. And then when the breweries here [in the South End] first opened I was like, ‘this is the perfect space’, so I contacted them directly and they were all for it. It flowed really well. I got very lucky with how everything worked out. Cary has come such a long way, so it’s just been really cool to see the community love something like this.
What made you decide to start a vintage market?
I like classic clothing, very much ‘80s and ‘90s styles. I don’t really do a lot of prints, I do very basic stuff. There’s just not a lot of vintage people that do that. There’s a little handful of us that are all friends that do it together. I thought that would be a good vibe for Cary, and wanted to expand on that. I wanted to bring in the people who do curated ‘70s, ‘60s, ‘40s or ‘50s vintage, who are looking for markets that showcase those vendors. I wanted something where everyone could be individually showcased, and I feel like being smaller, we allow that. Every vendor gets that recognition as opposed to a big thing where you don’t get that recognition as much.
How has The Cary Vintage Market changed since you first started?
We had mostly clothing at the very first market, and I really wanted to expand on that. We didn’t have any houseware vendors who applied. At the second one we had more variety, and it has expanded even more since. I’ve liked that we’ve been able to expand our categories, because as we grow in recognition, more people want to come, and I love that we are diversifying what we do. I’m hoping it continues even more!
Any trends to look out for going into spring?
Right now Y2K is the big thing, and Y2K is technically turn-of-the-century 2000s style. It’s not particularly my style, but it’s very big in the young groups. I think right now people are really big into oversized things or very micro things; they are on the extremes. I’m seeing a lot of people who like layering, and that’s always been a thing, but minimalistic layers are big. Honestly the biggest trend has to be Y2K, and it’s expanding. It’s breaking out of the 18 year olds and expanding more so we will see how far it gets.
What has been the impact of The Cary Vintage Market on the local community?
I think it’s a little early to say, but the feedback has been that it’s been really exciting for people, especially people who just moved here. I’ve had a lot of the older community be really excited about this, because it’s been nostalgic for them. I don’t know how far reaching it is, but I think that it’s definitely getting its name, and I think people are starting to be really excited that there’s a community market going on.
The next market will be on April 13th from 12 to 5 p.m. To learn more about The Cary Vintage Market, you can follow them on Instagram and Facebook.