As customers open the doors to Old Skool Outfitter, they are greeted by walls covered with doodles, minimalist art and racks filled with vintage color-coded sweaters.
Old Skool Outfitter opened on Gervais Street on Aug. 24. It was a dream come true, said owners Cy’ree Clarke and Zach Justice. The store is a buy-sell-trade store specializing in vintage clothing.
"When I first started, I also did Soda City, and the goal was always to open up our first door in Columbia. That was always my big dream, even when that kind of seemed impossible like that would never really happen," Clarke said.
The pair met in Columbia at a pop-up event, and after becoming friends, decided to merge their companies. Both were focused on reselling clothing. They opened their first store in Greenville in 2021, Justice's hometown.
“We knew that Greenville is an up-and-coming city, and we had lots of resources here in Greenville already. And so we also saw that there's a real hunger for this kind of stuff in Greenville, and not really someone to provide it," said Justice.
But their main goal was Columbia, Clarke's hometown.
“It’s kind of cool that we’re almost essentially bringing it back home, and so the people that have shot with us and supported us from years ago are now able to kind of experience the fruit from all the hard work we’ve put in," said Clarke.
Seeing customers get excited over the racks of vintage sweaters, jackets, and hats is what inspires Clarke and Justice, said Clarke.
“For me... giving other people the opportunity to take part in what we love and what means a lot to us..." Clarke said. "My favorite part of opening up the store... is just sitting down and seeing people walk in and seeing their faces just get so excited and light up whenever they come inside and see kind of like what we've done.”
Clarke said he loves the uncertainty of vintage shopping and the thrill of never knowing what he might stumble across.
“Sometimes you could go, and you could end up dry and not get anything, or you could go and find that piece that'll stay in your wardrobe for forever," said Clarke.
As a vintage store, Clarke and Justice said their target audience is USC students. One of their main ways they have been reaching out to students has been handing out free tote bags, Clarke said.
The outside entrance of Old Skool Outfitter with a mural on the wall on Sept. 8, 2024. Old Skool Outfitter is a thrift store located in the Vista that is 'making yesterday's most treasured merchandise available to the next generation of standout individuals.'
"I think the majority of people who really like to shop with us are that college-age demographic, and then slightly older from that. But we really want to reach the college students and provide a cool spot for them to be able to shop for South Carolina gear or just really anything for their wardrobe," said Clarke.
First-year linguistics student and thrifting enthusiast Austin Chariker received a tote bag outside of Gambrell, which encouraged him to check out the store.
“I think (older pieces) looks better. It's higher quality. Generally, if it's held up this long, it'll probably hold up a lot longer. Fast fashion is just kind of super cheaply made,” Chariker said.
The sentiment of wanting to find sustainable, better quality clothes through secondhand shops is shared by store employee and fourth-year marketing student Kyndra Patterson.
“I feel like clothes have so much life left to them. Like, there's no need to go buy fast fashion. I feel like thrifting is the perfect way to shop sustainable... and there's more unique pieces," Patterson said.
Many students enjoy vintage products, Patterson said, and they will only grow in popularity.
"Columbia doesn't have a lot of vintage, pre-loved stores I would say, so I think we're in a good market right now and I feel like the store will do really well," Patterson said.
Clarke said he wants to build a community beyond students as well, and share his love for vintage fashion with city residents.
"We want to just reach the community of Columbia and the people who live there, and really provide something cool that people from Columbia can be proud of," Clarke said.
Old Skool Outfitters is located at 929 Gervais Street. They are open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays.