Inside the First-Ever International Vintage Store Day!
a grassroots movement uniting secondhand shops across North America
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Listen up, vintage-lovers: this Saturday, May 17, marks the inaugural International Vintage Store Day, a massive celebration of brick-and-mortar secondhand stores, and today on Pre-Loved we’ve got the story about how this special event ‘made it out of the group chat.’
International Vintage Store Day aims to spotlight local vintage businesses and boost foot traffic for brick-and-mortar shops. It’s a total grassroots movement — nearly 1,000 shops are participating in its inaugural year across the United States and Canada — and it started as the brainchild of Emma Lewis, owner of Rare Form, an Art Deco vintage shop in Chicago that specializes in antique art prints.
She was inspired by specialized days like Record Store Day and Independent Bookstore Day — as an art shop, Rare Form has also participated in Stationery Store Day. Lewis said, “I saw how impactful Stationery Store Day is every year,” and after that event it inspired her to create a similar celebration for vintage retailers.
She teamed up with Sarah Azzouzi, co-owner of Lost Girls Vintage in Chicago, to transform this vision into reality. “When Emma reached out to us, I was just like, why haven't we thought of doing this yet? I can't believe it's taken this long,” Azzouzi told me.
The timing wasn't coincidental — if anything it was a “now’s really the time!” moment. Lewis, who participates in multiple group chats with fellow small business owners across the country, has been hearing consistent concerns from her friends and colleagues about declining sales and increasing costs.
“Everybody had a very hard time in 2024,” Lewis shared, transparently. “The conversations in these group chats have been about how we’re just going to survive. Anything that we can do to remind people that if they don't shop small, these places will go away is really important.”
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“Anything that we can do to remind people that if they don't shop small, these places will go away is really important.”
What makes International Vintage Store Day remarkable is its organic growth. In the beginning, Lewis personally reached out to vintage shops across the country.
“This was really as grassroots as it gets,” she explained. “I made a list of every mid-sized to large city that I could think of in the U.S. I googled vintage stores in each city, found their email addresses, and sent them an email saying, 'Hey, this is something that we're going to do. We're going to speak it into being.'"
Between October 2024 and March 2025, Lewis sent thousands of these emails to shops across the country. Initially hoping for 100 participants in the first event, she was blown away when the number grew to over 600 — and it continues to increase daily, approaching 1,000 stores just days before the event.
“We were shocked,” Azzouzi said. "When we got to 100, we were like, 'Yeah, this is a great first start,' but 600? I can't wait to see how much bigger it gets.”
The geographic diversity of participating stores has been particularly impressive. "I find it so amazing that we have stores in Fargo, North Dakota, and Connecticut, and Salt Lake City — and just all over the place — that all jumped on board," Lewis says. “It's so inspiring that someone with an idea can just decide to be the one to make something cool like this happen.”
Azzouzi knew they were on to something when the movement spread beyond their immediate networks: “What was really striking to me is I saw vintage shops from my hometown — Portland, Maine — sign up. I'm not even connected to them on social media. That was amazing!”
Lewis’s group chats are not alone — the timing of International Vintage Store Day couldn't be more critical for small businesses who are facing significant economic challenges in the current environment. “It's been a tough couple of years for brick-and-mortar business owners," she said. “I've already started to see a lot of stores that had to close in 2025, just after how bad last year was.”
Recent retail research supports these observations, with store closures hitting record numbers since the pandemic. The challenge has been further complicated by ongoing economic uncertainties and shifting consumer behaviors.
Contrary to popular belief, vintage businesses aren’t immune to economic policies like the tariffs, and the ripple-effect they will create. Azzouzi explains: "I know that a lot of people have been saying that vintage is not going to be affected, but vintage is just a part of the business environment. And once business is affected, our bags will become more expensive, our tissue paper will become more expensive — all of it.”
“Right now, with the tariffs, we are all talking about how we're just going to survive," she notes. “Small business owners don't have the margins to absorb extra costs like big-box stores do,” Lewis adds.
This struggle between independent retailers and corporate giants extends beyond the vintage sector. Last month, Amazon scheduled a book sale to encroach on Independent Bookstore Day, which has been celebrated last Saturday of April for the last twelve years. This move drew significant backlash from small business advocates. “What jerks! Just let them have their day,” Azzouzi said, rolling her eyes. “Big box stores have dominance every day.”
Despite Amazon's competing book sale, many independent bookstores reported strong turnout for their specialized day, suggesting consumers are increasingly aware of the importance of supporting their local community retailers.
Across the country, vintage stores offer more than just unique products — they're vital community hubs that enrich neighborhoods. “Small business is more than just selling to people. It really is a community builder, a neighborhood builder," Azzouzi says. “So if we can get more special days celebrating what we are, the more the better.”
And for the small business owners themselves, having a community of fellow entrepreneurs is equally important. Lewis describes how her network has been crucial for her own business journey:
“It can be kind of isolating being in your store by yourself all the time. And so connecting with other small business owners is a really good way to kind of feel like you have a community," she explains. "I have a number of people who I consider mentors who have had stores for 20 years.”
Beyond emotional support, these kindred relationships provide practical help through knowledge sharing and collaboration. When asked about the group chats she’s active in, Lewis said, “they’re a great way to commiserate with one another or ask questions as new issues arise.”
This spirit of collaboration powers the retail district in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood, where Rare Form is located. She describes the prevailing philosophy of the small business owners as “community over competition.”
"It's very much like, the more shops we have here, the more we'll be a destination — as opposed to seeing everybody as competition," she says. Azzouzi agrees, noting that when vintage businesses collaborate, everyone benefits: "Having other people who share the vision just supports that and supports your dream because other people want to be a part of it. I think it will allow us to just be a bigger, stronger community."
“I think it will allow us to just be a bigger, stronger community.”
As this Saturday kicks off the celebrations, participating shops are planning a variety of special events, discounts, and giveaways. At Rare Form, Lewis will offer discounts on antique prints and give away custom Vintage Store Day tote bags to the first ten customers.
Likewise, Lost Girls Vintage will give away totes: "we'll be giving away first annual Vintage Store Day totes to the first twenty shoppers," Azzouzi says. “The design is really cute. It has a little cowgirl on it!"
The organizers have also created a “passport” system – a postcard with stickers that shoppers can collect as they visit different stores throughout the day. “You basically take one of these postcards, and at each store you go to, you get a sticker and write the name of the store," Lewis explains. Shoppers who mail in their completed passports will be entered into a drawing for a $50 gift certificate to a store of their choice.
Many participating cities that have established vintage communities, such as Austin and San Diego, are organizing local “vintage crawls” to encourage shoppers to visit multiple stores in their area.
In that spirit, Azzouzi hopes the day will encourage shoppers to explore beyond their usual haunts: “We are just hoping people visit as many vintage shops as they can and really explore the neighborhoods that they haven’t gone into. I know there are vintage shops in Bridgeport, in Pilsen, and there's a bunch on the south side [of Chicago]. And I hope they get just as much love as the ones that people visit frequently."
“We all need to break the habit of relying on big-box stores for everything, otherwise, the communities we cherish may cease to exist.”
With the overwhelming response to this first event, the co-founders are already envisioning how International Vintage Store Day might evolve in the future.
“I'm hoping it's going to grow," says Lewis. "Next year, I'd like to have a professional designer give it a new look, and continue that tradition annually.”
The potential for growth is boundless — Azzouzi is inspired by Record Store Day's special releases: "I really like that Record Store Day releases specialty records on their day. I've been playing with that idea of trying to figure out what we can do as a vintage equivalent. Do we all bring out our most prized vintage pieces? Do we have workshops and classes?"
For now, the focus remains on making this inaugural event a success and gathering feedback from both store owners and shoppers about what they'd like to see in future celebrations.
“Small business owners are really just big dreamers that decided to do something.”
At its core, International Vintage Store Day is about highlighting the importance of shopping locally and sustainably — values that are increasingly resonating with more and more people.
“We all need to break the habit of relying on big-box stores for everything, otherwise, the communities we cherish may cease to exist,” says Lewis. "You get to choose what type of work environment and practices your dollar supports."
The enthusiastic response to International Vintage Store Day represents hope for the future of independent retail. Azzouzi said: "It feels like we haven't done everything we can with vintage and with our businesses, yet. As long as we are continuously innovative, I think that it'll still give us all hope because small business owners are really just big dreamers that decided to do something.”
Today, vintage-lovers across North America are planning their routes and preparing to celebrate the shops that keep history and community alive, one unique find at a time.
To find participating stores near you, visit this directory and follow Vintage Store Day on social media.
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