EXCLUSIVE: Seven Wonders Collective Opens Chinatown Store Featuring Vintage Mainstays
Brooklyn vintage store Seven Wonders Collective is expanding its reach with a Chinatown location.
The third store in its mix, the new Seven Wonders Collective is located on 319 Grand Street and opens Thursday. The sunny, spacious store counts 18 vintage vendors, along with a few surprises like its pop-up assortment in the center of the store. Intentionally sleek, the store features custom-built wood shelving and arched architectural details around the cash wrap and dressing rooms. The intent is to let the vintage clothes do the talking, rather than crowd the space with disparate furnishings, according to founder Melissa Blumberg.
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“When I first opened the store, I wanted to have a space where a group of friends could come in and each find a vendor that spoke to them,” she said.
Vendors — among them Adult Graduate, Tomatoes Vintage and Allybird Vintage — source in places like Germany, Japan, Mexico and Italy. The selection spans everything from early 2000s to Victorian-era relics, but is flush with colorful, trend-forward ’70s summer pieces and ’90s clubwear.
“Not only are they great at what they do. They’re great people,” Blumberg said. “It brings a great new energy.”
Perhaps unique today, Seven Wonders Collective’s website is not yet shoppable despite re-commerce’s drive among Gen Z. Its model works unlike traditional retail, with vendors neither selling merchandise outright nor renting a rack (as is popular for flea markets). Instead, vendors give a percentage of each sale to the business. (The amount was undisclosed).
Blumberg said this format is a test for the Chinatown store, but maintains that her success since founding her business in 2011 proves selling vintage doesn’t just have to be a side hustle.
The store is hosting a mixer Thursday for its grand opening.
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