Elgin Vintage, a locally-owned curated vintage store, will be opening its first permanent storefront at 23 S Spring Street in Elgin’s historic downtown this weekend.

From 12-8 PM on Saturday, February 24 and Sunday, February 25, 2024, former ECC student David Hill will be hosting his businesses’ opening weekend.

“It’s always been a dream of mine,” said Hill. “I would say I’m a hard worker but I have to do something I really love and enjoy. It’s pretty exciting because this is my passion and I do really enjoy doing it.”

The buy-sell-trade store has hosted two summer storefronts in past years. The first in 2022, located at 75 Market Street, was a trial run for Hill to see if he could pursue the business. The second in 2023, located on Spring Street, proved to be successful. 

“I like the vibes there, it’s pretty and well laid out,” said first-year student Ceili Ramirez. “I brought my brother and my cousin who was from California. I was like, ‘we need to go to this really really cool vintage shop.”

Through social media marketing like TikTok and Instagram Reels, Hill has seen a significant amount of business growth. He is currently running a $200 store credit giveaway on his Instagram @elginvintage. 

“As time went on, it started becoming more and more believable that I could do something like this,” said Hill. “This past summer was like, okay, this is for real. I can do this as my job, actually enjoy it, love it and have it be profitable.”

In addition to reselling curated vintage clothing, Hill promotes sustainability in his store by using wooden hangers and clothing racks that were mostly bought secondhand. He uses eco-friendly laundry detergent and ships online orders in biodegradable poly mailers from a local business. 

“I try to revolve my whole business around sustainability because clothing waste is something that really goes unseen,” said Hill.

According to the EPA, Americans throw out more than 34 billion pounds of used clothing every year. That ends up being more than 100 pounds of waste per person each year. 

Hill recently graduated with a bachelor’s degree in environmental studies from Eureka University in December 2023. He took the lease over from Liv Melchers, owner of ABLE shoppe, a curated vintage store located in Chicago. 

“It’s really exciting that people born and raised in the community see opportunities here for entrepreneurship,” said Executive Director of the Downtown Neighborhood Association of Elgin Jennifer Fukala. 

The Downtown Neighborhood Association works to “revitalize, enhance and sustain Elgin’s historic city center” and helps place businesses in vacant downtown properties. They currently have a top nine most-wanted business list including different types of restaurants, retail and entertainment. 

“I feel like having more cutesy shops around [the downtown area] would make it more enticing for people to walk around,” said Ramirez.

They also offer SizeUpElgin, which is a free business analytics portal providing market analysis, demographics and more.

“We are here to support [business owners] in whatever stage they are in the process to support their goal of opening a business down here,” said Fukala.

There are almost 100,000 square feet of commercial real estate currently under construction or renovation in downtown Elgin. Once completed, they are expected to bring new residents and businesses to the area. 

After opening weekend, Elgin Vintage will be open on Thursdays from 2-8 PM, Fridays and Saturdays from 12-8 PM and Sundays from 12-6 PM.