I kept thinking, “make a post…MAKE A POST”. But life happens.
Guess that’s a good thing, right? As I head into my THIRTEENTH holiday season as a small business owner, I am BEYOND thankful. Thankful for all of the folks I have met. Thankful for all the things I have learned. Thankful for how I have grown. Some of my favorite people I wouldn’t have met, had it not been for opening Gather & Collect.
Too many to list…you know who you are. Thanks for sticking with me.
Along the way, I’ve learned a little about myself as well. I truly had no real expectations for what I wanted out of the shop. Obviously, you want to be profitable and show growth. I am driven, but not so much by the money aspect of it. I love to thrift. LOVE IT! The chance to curate found treasures while adding in a bit of personality…well it’s my happy place. To help some folks out along the way…icing on top.
Gather & Collect has done well, through the ups and downs of illness, CRAZY pandemic years, moving locations, growing pains, and a nearly 8 month brutal downtown construction project…
I am going to take a moment to focus on the ups. I’m still in business. I still unlock the door and think “holy shit! this is MINE”. I still hear laughter in the shop. Customers have become friends. Employees have become family. And I still like…no, LOVE what I do. Running a small business is not for the weary. Or wait…running a small business makes one weary…either way, I appreciate my family and friends for their support. I appreciate my customers for continuing to walk through that door.
It takes a Village…and boy oh boy do I appreciate mine.
Well, it’s been a short minute since I last posted on the blog. Or I guess a year and a half? Whoopsie! I have intentions of posting regularly, but never set aside the time for the task. Feels like I do that for so many aspects of life. This is my attempt to get caught up. Let’s see…we all remember that little ole’ two and a half years with Covid right? Well the good news is, we made it through it personally and professionally. The shop hardly skipped a beat on Main Street. Things were moving along swimmingly with the shop bursting at the seams with products and customers. In October of 2021, as I was just set to sign a lease for my Main Street space, a space FOUR TIMES the size became available right around the corner on Pennsylvania Avenue. Shawn Sargent Designs was moving to a different location, so I bugged the building owner for the next few days, looked at the space, began dreaming, and the rest is history. We moved in about two weeks later on Halloween weekend, smack dab through the middle of the Halloween parade!
It didn’t take long to begin filling the space up. One by one, we opened up the little rooms as we dug through bins, my garage, my basement…Moving during the height of the holiday season was CRAZY, but we made it through and boy did it come in handy having space to move around in! To look around and see 20-30 people shopping around with room to walk! I love the building, the two story exposed ceilings, the big front (yet drafty) window…Though I miss my old neighbors, The Bookstore, String Theory, Joe the Hot Dog Guy…I have loved being on the block with Ten Thousand Villages and Treasure House. They have been so welcoming.
Stop in and see the expansion. More cards, more clothes, pottery…you name it. Our new address is 501 Pennsylvania Avenue, next to Ten Thousand Villages and across the street from the Glen Ellyn Fire Department.
Thanks for sticking with us for 11 1/2 years. I am humbled and grateful.
Well folks, it’s “Valentine’s Day” weekend. For some, a weekend filled with over the top gestures – roses, chocolates, wine, bubble baths, expensive jewelry… It has always seemed so odd to me. It’s like…someone one day said, “Hey guys? You want to make February 14th the day where we cram a bunch of lovey dovey shit into the agenda to prove how much we love someone??” …hold on! Now we can also rub it in everyone’s faces on social media! UGH
Kinda like when Santa brings one kid a Playstation, and another a pair of shitty socks. SMH. We all know people who both love and despise this holiday. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a cynic. Love is sweet and may we all feel it in many ways. May we all be able to find it from within, as well as with others. We should focus on making those we care for feel important…cherished…LOVED… now THAT is something we ALL should be doing on a daily basis. Through kind words… through small gestures… through random acts of kindness; listening, encouraging, lifting up…showing up – THAT’s what LOVE is all about! There is nothing better than feeling like you are not alone in this crazy world.
Someone in our village, maybe a few people, leaves these rocks…these little random acts of kindness around for others to discover. Beautiful hand painted rocks with hearts and words of encouragement…just because. I’ve found three so far. The one above on a table I had for sale outside the shop, another on my window sill that said PEACE, and one in the flower bed by the Fire Station. I didn’t even go and pick it up. Just seeing it from afar was enough for me. I kept the first…this heart. It’s in my car so I see it daily as a reminder of the good in the world. I left the others so they could be discovered and hopefully lift a few spirits.
Imagine how much love we could all spread with purposeful, authentic, yet simple random acts of kindness? A friend of mine made a post on Facebook recently that really resonated. “Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery – Joyce Brothers. So very true, and the friend who shared it really walks the walk. Think about it…the act of simply LISTENING may not seem like much to you, but it sure can be a lifeline for someone truly struggling. It may just lead someone back to a better path. It may save a life.
I came across a book “The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember”. Man…he was wise beyond his years. There I found a common thread about the importance of LISTENING.
In one post, he wrote “The purpose of life is to listen – to yourself, to your neighbor, to your world and to God and, when the time comes, to respond in as helpful a way as you can find…from within and without.”
Later, he wrote “More and more I’ve come to understand that listening is one of the most important things we can do for one another. Whether the other be an adult or a child, our engagement in listening to who that person is can often be our greatest gift. Whether that person is speaking or playing or dancing, building or singing or painting, if we care, we can listen.
As you go into each day, think about how you can show yourself and others Love, Respect, and Kindness. It may be just by simply listening.
Geezy Wheezy… 2020 wasn’t enough?? January 2021 blew through the doors and yelled “HOLD MY BEER!” I don’t know about you, but with the looming one year mark of the Pandemic, kids still remote learning, and oh let’s not forget the INSURRECTION… AHHHHHHH…these are ODD TIMES folks.
I’ve broken my record in posting TWICE in one month/year…hell, it’s usually twice in a FEW YEARS if I’m being honest. I assume I will be receiving a trophy. I’m making attempts to carve out time to post more. This will mean laundry may not be folded. When we went into the original lockdown last March (it still sounds very Hunger Games to me), it was quite the transition to keep a brick and mortar afloat for 13 weeks without the use of said brick and mortar. We survived by slinging goods on Instagram and Facebook, and making porch deliveries. It was hard work, but with the help of family and friends and friends kids, we came through and have had a really strong year. For this I am beyond thankful.
I worked on launching an online shop, and for the past 6 months have been 80% there. I just haven’t had the time to really investigate how to do it right. Customer service, order tracking, inventory, storage, packing, mailing…AAHHHHHHH. This May will be my TENTH ANNIVERSARY. Seems like just yesterday and seems like a million years all at the same time. I still love what I do. I have made so many connections…friendships through the shop. Ohh how I wish I would have kept a journal of all of the crazy stories. The Day of the Ferret… the guy who took ‘shrooms and Sangria during Jazz Fest and flooded my bathroom as he hallucinated…too many to name.
Cheers to a vintage life well lived. Hang in there folks.
Woooo…To say 2020 was a doozy is a monumental understatement. It was a clusterf*ck…a nightmare…and possibly a blessing for so many reasons. There is the obvious: the neverending Pandemic and the illness, loss of life, feelings of isolation, fear, exhaustion, and anger that coincides. Throw in a side order of social justice crisis, a smather of political divide with extra fake news and divisiveness, and what you got there is a true shit sandwich.
Friends and family once united in Love and Respect have found themselves fractured in Anger and Hate. It has been a year of loss, of change, and of uncertainty. All the while, we try to continue life as normal as possible. A new normal…an everchanging normal. In hopes that our actions now will get us closer to a more “normal normal”. Kids at home for school has been a tough one. Jobs lost and jobs shifted to being home based have caused even more adjustments. Carving out time and space for sanity and focus is tough on any and everyone. But we try. We TRY to continue the best we can; we shift when things aren’t working, and we lean on others to help fill the gaps and for a little giggle in all of this insanity.
That’s right. It’s OK to giggle. It’s OK to embrace the change. It’s OK to hope and dream and plan and make the best of what we have/are going through. “You get what you get, and you don’t throw a fit”… has been a tough one to live by. 2020 and the current 2021 has reminded me that it’s ok to throw a fit here and there, but then we have to pull up our boot straps and try to make the world a calmer, richer (not money rich…), nurturing place for all to cohabitate. If you have the opportunity, read a book, work on a puzzle, learn chess, and carve out quality time for family. It may be through FaceTime or through a window, but it’s something. Things may still suck…I mean TRULY SUCK due to illness, loss of job, financial insecurity, along with all of the other unknowns. I’m trying to focus on the day to day, and by setting short term goals, it’s a little less overwhelming. Your goal may be just to get up and out of bed; to shower, return a phone call…That’s OK.
In the meantime, I hope you all stay safe and sane in this crazy little space called life. It takes a Village. Thankful for mine.
Well, it’s been another minute since I’ve posted. I have every intent, but it’s how I roll…Not much has happened in the last year right? Oh wait…we’re still in the Pandemic of 2020, and civil unrest is more prevalent than any other time in my 51 trips around the Sun. Over the past presidential cycle, America feels more divided than ever.
It’s A LOT to take in… A LOT to think about…to worry about. It feels like rock bottom at times when you turn on the news, but hopefully WE as a nation can recover. We have to…what other choice do we have? I know that I personally have opened my heart…opened my ears…and opened my mind up to the reality that I am pretty damn fortunate to have been born into the privleges that come along with having white skin. I have taken it for granted, lived in a bubble, and it’s time to sit back and listen. Sit back and learn…sit back and reflect…and most importantly…to stand up and act. I WILL make changes and stand up against racism when I see it…when I unknowingly contribute to it…so that the society we live in is equitable for ALL. One person can’t fix the world, but I sure as shit will be part of the solution and not the problem. IT TAKES A VILLAGE.
What have we been up to?
The lockdown seemed like it would never end. Overnight, some ten plus weeks ago, I found myself closing up my little brick and mortar and realizing changes would need to be made to keep afloat. I quickly took to Facebook and Instagram and sold my wares. With the help of friends and family and the Williams boys, we delivered close to 200 orders during that time period. I began working with a web designer to help build an online shop, which is SO CLOSE to being launched. Stay tuned for that!
I can’t begin to thank those who have supported small businesses since this has all began. We’ve been fortunate to have moved on to Phase III (geez that still sounds so SCI-FI) and have reopened this past week. With new safety protocols in place, we are doing our best to be safe for everyone who enters our door. Masks are required, sanitizer is aplenty, and social distancing is key.
NO SHOES NO SHIRT NO MASK NO GATHER & COLLECT
We’ve opened back up, stocked the shelves with new items, with a shit ton more on the way. We hope you will stop in and say hello! We’ve missed you.
OK…maybe I haven’t actually posted in three years, three months, and 27 days…but who’s counting? Initially, I couldn’t figure out what website to go to actually post…then about a year and a quarter in, I figured out that it was WordPress. For the life of me, it has taken me another year and a half to figure out the username and password. Eventually, I gave in and 37 seconds later reset the whole damn thing! Here I am, ready to post. Before sharing mesmerizing pictures that will bring tears to your eyes, I will reintroduce myself and recap the last 3 years, 3 months and 27 days…
I spent a good 40 minutes looking through random photos on my laptop and couldn’t find one where I didn’t look like I had been up for 17 hours and not used moisturizer in years. Another 20 minutes and I thought I had figured out how to rotate the picture and find out it rotated back…So this is a picture that represents me…slightly off, partially disheveled, but looking onward and upward (get it, the pic has me looking up…)
My name is Julie Spiller and I have owned Gather & Collect just shy of 8 years, 4 months. Boy have there been some ups and downs over the years, but I still enjoy what I do. Maybe not the storing it all over my garage and basement and living room and dining room and…you get the gist. A lot goes into owning a business. A LOT…A lot of time, effort, money, sweat equity, and HELP. Huge shoutout to the friends and family that make it possible.
Gather & Collect has changed a lot over the years. Where I started out the venture the first three years with a business partner and sweet friend, Jessica Moran, of @jessicamoraninteriors, I assumed the whole shabang back in 2014. Over time, I have shifted focus, shifted products, added in some snark and for better or for worse, some personality.
The tag line is still Gather & Collect…a place of vintage. I still feel that remains true. Vintage means more than just “antiques” or “aged”. To me, it’s a mix of old school, flashbacks, good vibes, memories, yester year… and so much more. My first few years I painted and sold a lot of furniture. To be honest, it became too hard to keep up with. You know when you feel stressed that you sold a few pieces, it’s time to shift gears.
Now I focus on smaller, more manageable goods. This allows me more time to thrift! I offer an eclectic mix of unique, original artwork, pottery, brassware, classic books, lamps, industrial finds, upcycled treasures, global goods…yadayadayada. I have expanded my lines to include local makers, from jewelry to soaps to candles to honey to stationery…the list goes on. The shop offers a curated collection of boho clothing, purses, scarves, ties, linens, wallets…
Maybe two or so years ago, I added “potentially offensives” to lighten the mood during the election and its current aftermath. Patches, pins, stickers, mugs, glasses, inappropriate cards, naughty pencils…political satire. I know my sense of humor may be offensive to some, and I can appreciate that. My intent is pure…to offer a chuckle here and there in hopes that it may lighten things up and you will share kindness with the next stranger you come across in your day.
That’s it…we’re all caught up! I’ll touch base in three or so years! Just kidding…I’m always posting on Instagram and Facebook, but I’m going to make every effort to post here more often. My goal is to offer items for sale online in the next few months (though for me, that may be next year). Thank you for your continued support of our little village, of my little shop, and for the memories you helped create. It really does take a village.
In my last post, I mentioned how easy it is to get lost in our store. From the clothing section to the back vintage rooms, there is a lot you can miss. Thats why in this post I will be giving you a guided tour through Gather and Collect! Our old store was much smaller, so small that you could see most things in under a couple of minutes. And there were only two small hallways! Can you believe that!
In the front half of our store, you can find all our newer options like cards, puzzles, toys, candles, and more. We have so many cards spinners its easy to feel disoriented, never be afraid to ask us for help! We even have some handy Hokusai gifts to celebrate the exhibit at the College of Dupage.
There is a separate room in the back right corner of the store that has goodies as well! Right past our pride section, you’ll find a little room full of notebooks, hats, candles, thank you cards, and even baby socks. This is an extension of the new stuff, and is a nifty room we got the joy of filling.
As you walk down the hallway, past our clothing section and dressing room, you will find two rooms to the right side. The first room is our colorful, full of everything, you guessed it, colorful. This is my favorite room because I love vibrant colors. You’ll find a lot of lamps in here and fun vintage childrens toys, and other random knick knacks.
Next to the colorful room is its evil sister, the dark room. Not a photo rendering dark room, but instead a room where you can find all our brown, black, tan objects. Things like vases, an odd collection of wooden elephants, wicker baskets, and a wall of vintage photos. This moody room is perfect if you are into neutral tones.
Leaving behind these two rooms, we take a sharp right, and on our left is the living room. Or that is what I like to call it, hasn’t caught on yet…But what a neat hodgepodge room!
Next is the kitchen! This is my second favorite room, because it is themed just perfectly. With china and loads of plates and mugs, you can’t help feeling like you’re back in your grandma’s kitchen. All the pieces in here, besides aprons, are all thrifted china! I love looking through this room. The treasures you find are amazing.
Last is the bedroom, tucked away in the back corner of the store. It’s called the bedroom because there used to be a bed in it, although it’s gone, the name still holds. Here you will find VHS tapes, floral posters, pottery, and little knick-knacks, sometimes the occasional toy.
Now that you’ve gotten acquainted with the store, you can see how easy it is to get lost in. But getting lost in our store isn’t the worst thing that can happen to you. I’d like to argue that it can be fun.
When walking into Gather and Collect, you might be so taken aback by the craziness that you glance over our clothing section, or the back of the store, for that matter! Many people miss the back section of our store, because only a hallway leads to it. With summer sneaking up on us, transitioning from winter to summer clothing can be challenging for a lot of people. I know it’s tricky for me. I get so comfortable in my big sweaters and sweatpants that switching to shorts and tanks seems like the worst thing in the world, almost impossible. Not only because you find you’ve someone grown out of everything you used to own, but it is also hard to get used to all those different colors and cuts!
There is no need to worry, or maybe you should worry, who am I to say? Gather and Collect has a great selection of women’s blouses, skirts, dresses even men’s shirts that can help you rebuild a summer wardrobe. All of our clothes are second-hand, hand-picked by Julie, except for a few wholesale pieces. Those are usually easy to pick out from our second-hand selection, having a newer look. Here are a few examples of skirt and shirt pairings that I think are just adorable.
And one of our cutest dresses!
Don’t forget the men’s shirts, this is my favorite, just look at the blues!
The biggest tip I have for people when it comes to clothing is not to be afraid. Don’t be afraid of patterns, colors, or length. Wear something outside your comfort zone as often as you can; all of a sudden, you will find your comfort zone is a lot larger. Most of all, wear the things that make you happy, whether or not they happen to be in fashion. Wear the thing that everyone is wearing and the thing that everyone says is ugly; all that matters is that you enjoy it and find comfort and confidence in what you have on your body. Outfits always look better when the person in them is comfortable and happy. Fashion is such a cultural phenomenon, based so harshly on the political and social standards that surround us and our world. When we accept these things about fashion, we can also break through them and wear things that aren’t dictated by the world around us but rather by what we enjoy. So that is the biggest tip I can give you about fashion: find joy in it! Find joy in the things you can find here, at Gather and Collect, because we shop with joy just as much as we wear it.
This is more of a real tip than a sappy love yourself one. I learned something from a former coworker and friend when thinking about patterns. If you have more than three patterns on, then you can wear anything. Polka dots! Stripes! Zig Zags! The world is your oyster, and all of a sudden, it looks so good together! Experiment with your style and learn what suits your body type, but steer clear of comparing yourself to others while discovering what looks and makes you feel good.
It’s also essential to make sure you have a lot of basics in your closet. It is super easy to become obsessed with buying statement pieces, and hey, if you want to buy a lot of statement pieces, do you! But you have to have the basics to build around those statement pieces.
So, what I am saying is, mix it up, be confident, and love yourself.
Gather and Collect started off about ten times smaller than it is now, on Pennsylvania Ave, where Punch Barber Shop is now. Owned by Julie and Lisa, with Jessica along for the ride… it held the name Vintage Minagerie and was filled with all the vintage goodies they could get their hands on. They were slaying it until one day, when arriving at the store to add inventory, they noticed a chunk of their inventory was gone and had been replaced with items they did not recognize. What the hell! So, like any sane person would do, they called the cops, wondering if someone had broken in, though that would be the oddest break-in ever. When the cops (actually, it was Rose who now works here) came, they had to do a sweep of the whole building to make sure whoever broke in wasn’t still there. Luckily, there was no one in the building or any signs that a break-in had occurred at all. So, they called their landlord to alert them about the craziness that had just occurred. Little did they know their landlord would only be adding to the craziness, because it was she who orchestrated the switch-a-roo! Something along the lines of, “You guys have a good gig going, I’m going to join in”.
Julie and Jessica were having none of that and decided to abandon ship. Mourning the loss of their store, they decided to take a rest. After about half a year, a new location opened up on Main Street, so Julie and Jessica decided to jump on that, and thus opened Gather and Collect as you know it today. After two years of banging business, Jessica left to open her interior design business, Jessica Moran Interiors, saying farewell to Gather and Collect, leaving Julie sole ownership of the store! Julie stayed on Main Street for about ten years, growing out of the size of the store around year four. If you remember the old shop, you might recall that it was small. About 650 square feet of vintage items and goodies. That’s when Julie started collecting people. First, Heather, her best friend and helper of all things crafty. Then Leah and I, otherwise known as the littles.
The business was growing, so was the need for a new space, and when another space opened up on Pennsylvania, Julie decided to go for it. The space we are in right now is about five times bigger than the original location, which offered endless opportunities to expand our merchandise and products that we carry in the store. Our clothing, gifts, hodgepodge, and cards all expanded to hold so much more than we could before. Some people don’t even realize how far back our store goes until we tell them! I remember the days of moving. We hand-carried all our pieces over, pushing over bookshelves on wheels, carrying baskets of pottery, and juggling handfuls of books or clothes.
As you can see, we’ve done some growing over the years. New spaces, new people, new products, and new chaos. The memories just keep piling up. Along with stacks of goods we need to get out on the floor…
Here we are, the Gather and Collect Blog! It has been a long time coming, and we are so excited to start regularly putting out blogs again for you! Things are going to look a little different this time around. Let me introduce myself. I’m Mallory, and I have been working at Gather and Collect for under four years. You might recognize me if you come in regularly! I’m an English Major at school, so Julie and I thought that this summer would be a great opportunity to practice the skills I have been learning: writing this blog for all of you! The catch is I will only be here for the summer, so I hope to enjoy my time writing as much as I hope you all enjoy your time reading. I hope to change topics every week, allowing us to discuss what goes on in our store, what we enjoy around town, and the craziness that happens when running a store like ours. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment on your thoughts! Don’t let me be the one doing all the talking.
When I started working at Gather and Collect, I was 17 years old, which at the time felt like the oldest someone could be. Turning 21, finding internships, right on the cusp of graduating from college, has given me so many perspectives and thoughts about the world around me, good and bad. But what Gather and Collect has taught me is to laugh right through it. Whether that be politics, personal relationships, or the mess that is running a small business, you just have to keep laughing. That is what I have learned from our customers, too, hearing all your laughter throughout the store from the moment you walk in to the moment you leave. The whole world just needs one big laugh, and I hope we can provide that for everyone who walks through.
