We were lucky to catch up with Tiana Thurber recently and have shared our conversation below.
Tiana, appreciate you joining us today. So, let’s start with trends – what are some of the largest or more impactful trends you are seeing in the industry?
Many trends happen within the vintage buying and collecting community. Currently, we are seeing a rise in Uranium Glass sales, when we get a piece in the store it is gone within a few days. People love the color and collectors love the rareness. Trends come and go quickly, they leave and come back years later but Uranium glass has been going strong for a long time.
Tiana, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
My name is Tiana Thurber and I’m happy to live in the amazing community of Pittsboro, NC. I grew up in my grandmother’s home in Chapel Hill, NC, which was part of my family for over 200 years, this is where my love for old things came from. My grandmother would explain everything in the house, who it belonged to, where it came from, its value, etc. Her mother (my great-grandmother) wrote a lot of the history on the back of things, several large barns were a complete treasure trove of my family’s Chapel Hill history. I spent a lot of time going through things, the boxes, the barns, etc. It filled my heart. My grandmother was faced with the challenge of paying higher property taxes as Chapel Hill real estate went bonkers in the mid-90s and she was forced to sell our family homestead. At that time she had a few antique dealers come through the house to buy things and I was very interested in that whole process. Eventually, I started selling on eBay to afford to be a stay-at-home mother, once the kids went to school that business grew and I met the previous owner of Reclamation, Elyse Rowley, and did consignment sales for her on eBay. She asked me to be a vendor at Reclamation and many years later she sold the business to me, with a promise that I would always keep my prices affordable, I agreed and it’s been a wonderful adventure ever since. This opportunity allowed me to blossom, and become more involved with my community.
Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?
Reclamation has had two pivoting moments. The first came before Covid, the building that we leased on Main Street sold and a new business moved in, leaving us displaced. Pittsboro is small and retail space is slim, it took us three months to find a new place, which placed us on a side street. Thanks to our time in business we were able to get people down the side street, previously a death sentence in Pittsboro for small business. We are proud to be part of the expansion of downtown.
Shortly after the move, Covid happened. We were able to make money and pay the bills during this time because we chose to pivot, selling online and social media, and even creating a website during this time. Our community was amazingly supportive and it worked!
What’s worked well for you in terms of a source for new clients?
We were featured in Our State Magazine last Christmas and it brought people here from all over and continues to do so. It helped so many new customers find us, within our town and beyond.
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Image Credits
My photos