Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Paul Donofrio. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Paul, appreciate you joining us today. Being a business owner can be really hard sometimes. It’s rewarding, but most business owners we’ve spoken sometimes think about what it would have been like to have had a regular job instead. Have you ever wondered that yourself? Maybe you can talk to us about a time when you felt this way?

I am happy as a business owner. I have had a regular job, a few of them, and they were fine, but being a business owner, for me, works out much better. I enjoy creating ideas and following through to build those ideas. I have always been fortunate to find the right people to join and support me. Of course, there are many challenges and responsibilities as a business owner and sometimes, at the toughest times, it’s hard not to think of just having a regular job. To be able to clock in and clock out, do your job and go home. Owning a business is a 24/7 job. You are always working. I prefer it that way. I am a creator, a doer and a risk taker. I enjoy watching my ideas come to fruition and seeing my business thrive. My business, Vintage Marche, is something I am very passionate about. I have always had a love for antiques, vintage and collectibles. I started at a young age driving my parents mad bringing all my treasures home from garbage picking. It grew into a hobby as I got older. As a business owner, I was able to turn that hobby into a business.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Vintage Marche opened in January of 2020. Prior to that, I was a picker and into doing shows as a hobby. I had the opportunity to take over a similar business and make it my own. Fortunately, I was able to put together a team of over 30 amazing, like-minded people, that have been picking and selling professionally for years. Most of them travel the country to find the best treasures to bring to our customers. We bring the absolute best vintage, antique, and collectibles to the area. Our business model is unique. We are open only two and a half days each month: the first Friday, Saturday and Sunday, every month. The rest of the month our vendors are traveling and picking to find the best of the best. We are able to curate a new shopping experience each market; the market is different every month. This is attractive to our customers who come back month after month, some planning their vacations around our schedule so they don’t miss market weekend or if they come from out of town, they plan to come a weekend we are open. People love to find a treasure and they love the thrill of the hunt like we do. Every month, our vendors stage their spaces differently, with new items. We also restock and restage each night before the next days market so it is fresh and never picked over.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

I have had a couple challenges since opening Vintage Marche in 2020. Of course, everyone knows that the world experienced COVID in 2020. We were only open three months before we had to shut our doors to the public. Our business relies on being open for our customers to shop and buy. With no shoppers, there were no sales and no income for the vendors or the business. We had to get creative, so we put together a way for local shoppers to buy items online. We were only able to sell a small fraction of what we could with our doors open, but we all worked together and made it through. The other challenge came when our old building in the warehouse district was purchased. We tried to work with the new landlord, but decided it would be best to move. We stayed open at the old location while working to renovate and move to our new location. It worked seamlessly and we had our best market the first month at our new location in the skyway marina district. Never forget where you come from stay humble listen to other strong like-minded people. You will face criticism and difficult decisions stay the course and trust in yourself.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

We started from the ground up with a brand new Facebook page and Instagram account. For us, our business is mostly word of mouth. The next best advertising is social media. We post content that we know our customers and followers will enjoy and can interact with. We post pictures and videos or reels of items that will be available in our upcoming market. Customers are excited to see what we have available, so they tune in to our social media. We also do a 30 minute live sneak peek, where I walk around the market and talk about key pieces and answer questions. My advice would be to know your target audience and give them what they want. Stick with it too, it can be a long process, especially when you are just starting.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.vintagemarche727.com
• Instagram: vintagemarche727
• Facebook: @vintagemarche727
• Yelp: Vintage Marche
• Other: Google: Vintage Marche