ThriftCon is officially over y'all! TSC has survived not only our first event but our first event in a pandemic. Damn. We weren’t sure what to expect but we definitely weren't expecting to rise at 5 a.m to hustle a 14 hour day – what is sleep, you know? These days I’m just trying to go with the flow so when I found out we had to pull up at 6 am i was a little shocked. What would I be doing for 4 hours? Would setup really take that long? Turns out, hell yes. But hey, nothing comes easy and we had been preparing for this Con forever, If you read our last blog we were peachy all up until Friday when the final countdown began. I wouldn't say we were overconfident about the event but the stress was at a minimum up until that point. Jess is already a worrier (Don’t kill me if you're reading this Jess), yet she kept her cool. After her dope LA haul she brought back all these goodies and it was just a matter of getting them ready. I was on the struggle bus last week. I had to filter through all the clothes but I managed to work through 90 percent of them. I won’t spill our secret daily operations but just know it's a mission. Jess starts, I continue and she finishes. She is the mastermind and I’m the accomplis.
Honestly, the clothes were the simplest part of prep. TSC is a business 24/7 365, so we know clothes. But, do you know that feeling when you get overzealous about an event, or anything really? You start to envision the perfect outfit or the perfect setup and now you're sitting under that single lamp at 2 am eye bags and all? The desk is cluttered and the trash can is full. That was probably Jess when she labored over the schematics. Well however she went about making it happen the overall result was dope. She went all out for ThriftCon; it even surprised me. We had a little tablet for checkout, these crazy cool grid stands for clothes and banners. No joke, overall Thriftcon looked like goodwill, just a bunch of racks in a warehouse. It was a vibe, but I definitely feel like we were on some next level shit.
Getting the layout right was a true hustle. Jess even busted out the tool box and we went Handy Manny on the grids. I wasn’t around for the initial mock setup but I did see it in progress. It looked easy. What I didn't realize was how we would put in motion.
Overview from a tired bird:
I rolled out of bed, threw on a hat and didn’t even change from the jammies. A couple hours earlier I packed all my bags (excessive AF, believe me) and like a soldier I slipped into a light sleep ready to pounce, if need be. Since Jess and I live on the opposite ends of Colorado we agreed to meet up at the Western Stock Show. While I was flying down I70, late as always, I couldn’t help but feel jittery and recall our meeting a few days earlier where we chatted about our plan. Lowkey, our meetings always consist of us jacking around but we had a productive hour! I ended up getting there early, go figure, so after being directed by ⅓ of ThriftCon’s creators, I parked in the vendor lot and waited. Saturns and Honda’s rolled by, nothing big As a shopper, I wondered what these thrifters had to offer. We were one of the only vendors to bring a huge Uhaul and Jess rolled up, the low sound of 90s gangsta rap was playing in the background.
Since I’ve been a homebody this year I was a little weirded out at having my temp taken but check in went smooth and as ⅔ of ThriftCon masters led us to our slot, via him on a skateboard (im impressed), I got a taste for the competition. ThriftCon embodies the youth and I don’t mean people who are young, rather hold the spirit of youth, fashion and culture. I felt at home. It was lively and even though we were definitely outsiders looking in there was something welcoming about this gathering. If COVID wasn’t a thing, I think Thriftcon would have been much more interactive. Many of the Denver vendors knew each other and it was cool to see them reunite.
Our neighbor to the left was a badass one-women band coming from Florida. This year was her first Con but this was her second event. She spoke highly of the one in Fort Worth, pre-COVID. This lovely couple from Fort Collins set up a vintage indie booth to our right. Their setup reminded me of a slinky Stevie Nicks via the first Fleetwood record she appeared on.
Customers trickled in slowly at first then foot traffic was moderate. The whole day proceeded like this. A nice manageable influx of thrifters and then some slower times. We have nothing to base this event on but it was a great way for tsc to check out the thrifting scene and some of Denver’s finest. Jess and I both attended ThriftCon’s past, but we will always remember this as the first. I know we're saving lives and protecting ourselves by wearing masks, but it cramped my style. Jess and I have so much respect for healthcare workers, fast food workers and all those people who wear masks all damn day long to serve others. That shit aint cool. But we made some sales, met some people and most important got a taste of vendor life in Colorado. Hopefully we can get to some events soon. Were you at ThriftCon? Let us know below.