Open/ brief cool

We're only ruddy open. We're coming to the end of our first week of trading and it's all going rather well. Sure this is the honeymoon period, and perhaps further down the line Steven and I will fall out over where we should put the jumpsuits but right now it's all good.

 Regular readers will know that we both worked in/ran vintage shops in London and it's nice to know that a lot of the same things happen here. Some old people have complained about the music being too loud, we have a crazy man who pops in most days telling us we should be a a Bible shop , someone will come in every day and try and sell us some old tat, and it's cold. These things sound annoying but to me they're actually quite comforting. God knows I like routine. I should point out I'm not implying the Bible man is crazy because he believes in God, it's more the way he says it. Trust me he's mental.  

After our first day last Saturday we were quite content that we were Colchester's coolest new shop and we had a bit of a lock in to celebrate with close friends and family. Within a couple of hours of the doors being closed Tina Turner was on the stereo and the shop floor was graced by some classic dad dancing. We had lost all semblance of cool within our first day. Ties were round heads, Michael Jackson impressions were popular and most terrifyingly of all my Mum danced with Steve's Dad. The windows steamed up pretty quickly (just as Tina would like) so passers by couldn't see what was essentially a wedding reception in a vintage shop.

Steamy Windows: this was a lovely gesture but it was a pain in the ass to clean in the morning. Just saying. 

We've been giving away canvas tote bags to anyone who spends more than £50 or to people we take an instant liking to and I must admit I beam with pride whenever I see one around town. I spotted a girl with one in the hardware section of Wilkos. It was a special moment for two reasons because I don't visit the hardware section very often. In case you're interested I was buying fuses. I think they were 3 Watt. 

Toteally cool. Sure. 

We're really pleased with how the finished shop looks and other than a signed Graham Coxon picture to go behind the till and another full length mirror for the front door end of the store we're golden. I'm not sure if I've thanked them in a previous post but in no particular order the following people have our eternal gratitude for making the shop look exactly how we imagined it: Mark the painter, Reg the carpenter, Jim the Electrician and Phil the Printer. These are real people and not characters from a kids tv show I promise. Put them all in a room and you'd probably get quite a good tv show although some of the language would be a little bit fruity for kids. 

I know some of you cool Colchester cats want to keep knowledge of  your new favourite vintage shop to yourself but that's just not a great business strategy for us so do go tell your friends. They'll love you forever. Come and see us this weekend, we're getting some new stock in because we've been selling so much. There'll be some new Carharrt jackets, faux fur coats and womens check blazers among other things. Boink. Stay cool Colchester. Love you. Jez x

Builders/Zombies

Hey pals. I'm back. It must have felt like an age for you and for that I'm truly sorry but we've been busy. You've probably heard that we now have the keys to the shop and building work has begun. So it was true after all. I was beginning to worry that people thought we were making the whole thing up to impress girls. We have made stuff up in the past for that reason so I can't really criticize any doubters but it's official we are opening at 40 Eld lane Colchester this month. 

 We have proper, cracks out, whistling at any lady regardless of age, smoking, chain tea drinking builders in at the moment but Steven and I are helping wherever we can. We seem to have been confined to painting the staff only toilet for most of the project so far which in our defence was a big jobbie. (snigger snigger)  It did look like the set of a horror film out there but thanks to our 4 coats of Brilliant White it's more like a haven now. I look forward to spending some quality time in there once we are open. The painting is done in most of the shop now, the electrician has been in laying cable and the carpenter man  has started building our fitting room and our counter so it's all happening in there. The only downside so far, apart from the sexist banter, is that the builders like to listen to Jazz Fm. Last week I spent a day in there on my own cleaning and I listened to the whole Grandaddy back catalogue. It was freakin awesome, so "the best mix of jazz, soul, and funk" is a bit of a step down. Having said that I hadn't heard Holding Back the Years by Simply Red in ages and Hucknalls rich voice is still a treat.

Steve enjoying The Haven: "like being inside a Fox's glacier mint" 

This is Reg the master carpenter. I think he is building the fitting rooms and not a cage for dancing girls like I asked.  

Reg has "never done a bodge job in his life".  That is SO not my policy which is why I'm only allowed to work on the toilet. 

I don't want to commit to an opening date right now but I think we'll be selling some mother humpin' threads in about a fortnight. I can't wait to have some routine back in my day. They say variety is the spice of life but they are wrong.

We had a party to celebrate getting the keys last week and by all accounts a rollicking good time was had by all. You've probably seen some of the pictures on our facebook page I'd imagine. I'd like to thank everyone who stopped by and as is traditional, apologies to anyone who I touched inappropriately.( John).
Special thanks to Yulien for his security guarding, to John for taking lovely pictures and to Slavka and Jess for manning the bar.  Excellent work one and all.

The party, although not fancy dress, was on Halloween ,which you might expect an old curmudgeon like me to be against. Sure it's further evidence of the Americanization of our culture, sure it's a triumph of marketing over common sense and sure it encourages wackiness but you know what, it's here now and it isn't going to go away so you might as well embrace it. Colchester town centre was quite zombie heavy last Thursday (what else is new yeah? Very clever) which shows a distinct lack of imagination. I hope that next year a lot of you come and visit Best days for your Halloween outfits. We are NOT, I repeat NOT a fancy dress shop but we will definitely be able to piece together a costume for those of you with a creative mind. Instead of being a generic zombie you could go as a re-animated rock star. We could easily knock up a Kurt Cobain back from the dead look for example. A grungy cardigan over a baggy t shirt, a pair of ripped levis and you're a gun shot wound away from notoriety. For obvious reasons most of you should not attempt the Jimmy Hendrix zombie. You won't be able to pull off the moustache. I have just decided that next Halloween to mark our anniversary we are going to have a dead rockstars themed Halloween party. Can somebody remind me about this nearer the time. Thanks. 

Zombie Kurt: chilling

Colchester folks I hope you have enjoyed the blur themed posters we've had in our windows. Remember they are there to protect you from the exposed inches of buttock cleavage that currently lurk behind them. Keep your eyes peeled for new posters with updated information on them and we'll let you know our official opening date when we've decided what it is. It will probably depend on how good Jazz FM is for the next couple of weeks. Love you. Bye. Jez x