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

Meika, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Often outsiders look at a successful business and think it became a success overnight. Even media and especially movies love to gloss over nitty, gritty details that went into that middle phase of your business – after you started but before you got to where you are today. In our experience, overnight success is usually the result of years of hard work laying the foundation for success, but unfortunately, it’s exactly this part of the story that most of the media ignores. Can you talk to us about your scaling up story – what are some of the nitty, gritty details folks should know about?

I opened AMT Vintage back in 2006 in Jersey City, NJ in a back street concrete storefront, I formally lived above. The rent was a mere $500 at the time and cheap enough for me to take the risk in opening a store while working a full time job. Two years later, I was able to move AMT to a more prominant location just outside the PATH train and main street, and with an actual glass storefront!

It was 2008 and the start of the great recession at the time and as terrified as I was to move locations at the time, it was my first lesson in taking risks to grow. While many people found themselves in hard times, AMT continued to grow, and provided a great option to those looking for a bargain as well as a little escapism. As I began to learn how to take risks and follow my heart, I ended up getting pregnant 4 years later.. During this time, I was a regular in the NY vintage circuit doing trade shows and other events selling my wares. However, deciding to take a short break during my pregnancy I instead opened up a vintage showroom in addition to my brick and mortar store. This new location would house my extra rare and special vintage pieces and allow me to grow outside of the trade show market. While this growth continued to aid in our success, I longed to show everyone the full scope of our collection and soon after was presenting with an opportunity to move our store into a brand new space, which we would have the opportunity to build out to become our dream store! In 2016, aligning with our 10 year shop anniversary we moved AMT Vintage to its new home at 195 Montgomery Street, a 1800 sq ft 2 floor space, designed fully by both my husband and self.

I was also learning how important it was to keep moving and to keep growing. When I found myself feeling stagnant, I knew it was time for a change. Scaling up was the only option, if I didn’t it would die.

It was clearer than ever that taking risks was the only way, and when I found myself feeling stagnant again I once again listened to my heart and, as cheesy as it may sound, followed what felt like sunshine, and that was Los Angeles! LA, also my birth home became our favorite place to source vintage and dreams of opening a store here began to form. When an opportunity to make this dream a reality presented itself in 2019 we decided to take the next leap and moved to LA! Leaving our store in the hands of our manager at the time and our house on Airbnb, we set off driving across country. Little did we know we would be presented with Covid only 6 months later. While the journey presented many challenges, there is no doubt moving to LA saved not only the business but my mental health during that time! We managed to the weather the storm and now 4.5 years later, have just opened our 2nd location here in Pasadena, CA where we now live.

While I do still face fear as an entrepreneur, I know I must push through in order to get the reward, and the beauty of it all is that what you give, will come back to you if you can just keep moving!

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

My name is Meika Franz and I am the owner of Another Man’s Treasure vintage store aka AMT Vintage located in both Jersey City, NJ & Pasadena, CA. I have been obsessed with clothing since I was a young child, but found my home in the world of vintage clothing.

My family was deeply rooted in the sewing industry, so as a young child I was exposed to various aspects of clothing and construction. I grew up going to trade shows and learned how to sew from a young age, leading me to teaching sewing seminars by the age of 14. My dream at the time was to be a fashion designer, but my path took me on the backroads. I worked as a seamstress in a bridal shop in my early years, worked in costumes at a traveling theater and eventually vintage! In 2003, at the age of 23 I moved to London to be with my now husband of nearly 20 years. There I began working in vintage clothing stores!

One of the first shops I worked at was a massive vintage clothing store called Beyond Retro. I gained skills in pricing and merchandising that later offered me an opportunity to open a 2nd location for the company. While life took a different path, I realized I had a natural eye and found my place. My entreprenurual background, eye for merchandising, sewing and styling skills, fabric and counterculture knowledge all came together and led me open my own store established in 2006.

I am passionate about helping people feel good in the clothing they wear and in promoting a sustainable future of fashion. I truly feel vintage is the future!

How do you keep your team’s morale high?

I think managing a team, especially from across the country is one of the biggest challenges in business! While I continue to be challenged by this part, I also find great rewards and maintaining a high morale is everything when it comes to this.

When I first moved across country, leaving my shop behind, I realized by giving my staff more responsibility I was also challenging them to reach their full potential. I think one of the most challenging things about being an entrepreneur is learning to let go. It often feels easier to just do it yourself, because it’s faster and easier than training and teaching someone else to do the work! However, this leads to staff feeling bored and losing interest quicker. We all need to grow, and in order to keep good staff, you need to allow them to grow with you.

From day one my goal has been to empower my staff to success, and to teach them everything I can! I have always wanted their parting to be because they were off to bigger and better. I also think of my team as my partners, and we are in a partnership. I could not do what I do without them and I am grateful for them every day and I try to share this as much as possible. We all have different skillsets and that’s what makes a great team! Having a growth mindset policy and staff aligned with this is also everything.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

As I mentioned previously, we moved to LA only 6 months before the start of Covid. At the time of shut down, we lost all revenue from both our JC shop and airbnb, meanwhile we were now responsible for our additional LA rent. On top of this, as an LLC we were ineligible for any unemployment. We found ourselves hustling to make ends meet, selling vintage on our newly created ‘insta-shop’, both modeling and homeschooling at the same time. As the months went on, there was little need for most of the clothing we sell, but we were able to pivot our business by selling vintage tees, sweatshirts and loungewear. It took several more months before estate sales and other former buying opportunities were back, but we were fortunate to be living here in LA where we could quickly go back to shopping flea markets and other outdoor shopping opportunities. Luckily, we were able to make it through this crazy time!

Contact Info:

• Website: www.amtvintage.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amtvintage/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUIW-wQUyh0VHwK4wc-6moA
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/another-mans-treasure-vintage-store-jersey-city
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@amtvintage

Image Credits
All photos owner by AMT Vintage