By Carrie Rengers
The Wichita Eagle
WWR Article Summary (tl;dr) Four friends are joining forces to launch a vintage clothing store “dead center” in the middle of Wichita.
The Wichita Eagle
A group of friends were already considering the name “Dead Center Vintage” for their new Wichita vintage retail shop in honor of being in the state that’s the center of the continental United States.
Then, when they found the space they wanted at 626 E. Douglas, they knew the name fit.
“Now we’re in the dead center of Wichita, Kansas,” says Kenzie Borland.
She and Morgan Goodwin, Lazarus Massey and Gabrielle Griffie, who thought of the Dead Center name, are opening the downtown store together on Feb. 1.
“Downtown represents so much of diversity and community and the things we love about Wichita, especially in that area,” Borland says.
She calls the area a dream and says the business is, too.
Goodwin, Massey and Griffie have all been selling vintage clothing and items online.
“We are big believers in sustainability and promoting slow fashion,” Borland says.
That could be through thrifting or buying from vintage sellers.
The store mostly will focus on clothing, but there also will be shoes, jewelry, accessories, knickknacks and some local art.
“Basically, if it’s vintage, we’ll sell it,” Borland says.
“Everyone is very different,” she says of what decade each of them likes, “but anything from basically ’60s to ’90s is kind of our niche.”
The four owners have had some pop-up stores together in the last couple of years “where we would just kind of show up and communicate with a space,” Borland says.
“They turned out really successful.”
Borland is still in school at Wichita State University, where she’s getting a degree in communications.
While she likes the product side of the business, she says, “I really like the marketing side of it.”
Borland says she sees an opportunity to connect to the community through the store.
She says the business lets each of the owners reminisce about their childhoods.
“We really got in this because of sustainability and how much we loved . . . the nostalgia that came with it.”
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