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The Picker Knows, an antique mall located in West Des Moines, is home to hundreds of vendors, selling classic and vintage furniture, baseball cards, record players, classic albums and vintage clothing. A new section of the store, The Archive, is a vintage clothing shop that was created by Phoenix Lee, and Boey Lu. The two of them had a business prior to The Picker Knows, (VintagexHype and Rise Again Vintage) and have grown their business into something that they are proud to be a part of. The Archive supplies classic thrifted items, from streetwear to vintage clothing, and curates the best thrifted items to be put for sale.

The antique mall gives opportunities to any small business or person to create and provide their own business inside of the shop. Lee and Lu believe that it is important to shop vintage instead of fast fashion items because it impacts the environment in a positive way. The fast fashion industry is responsible for a lot of greenhouse gas emissions that cause negative effects to the environment, creating various kinds of pollutants. They are playing their part by keeping the environment eco-friendly and sustainable.

“We contribute a good, curated selection of vintage items inside of The Vintage Shop. It is a one-stop shop and you can see already found, thrifted items for people to purchase,” Lu said.

“We had two of our own companies and we decided that we cannot have two names. We pondered a bunch of names and we stumbled across The Archive. I trusted Phoenix to work together for vintage, and we came together to become one business,” Lu said.

Overall, their business has grown inside of The Picker Knows, through pop-up events and recognition.

“Since we’ve been there, our social media has grown because we have our own tags and people see that,” Lee said.

They curate a collection of clothing anywhere from the 70s to the 2000s.

Lu checks inventory for The Archive and makes sure everything that is being sold to the public is appealing to their customers. They are very selective about what they sell, selecting rare pieces of clothing and classics. The Archive has been a business for over three years, starting in 2019, bringing in their business inside of The Picker Knows in 2021. The co-owners Lee and Lu used to have another vintage business called, “Illest Around” that closed. Now, they have incorporated vintage from the Illest Around to bring to The Archive, while previous clients are still supportive in coming to see the new vintage section.

Lu has been pushing vintage for the past ten years and their business is growing. The community has shown appreciation and support for vintage clothing.

“We have grown to gear towards new people and getting new inventory and not sticking to what we used to have,” Lu said. “Vintage used to be looked down upon, but over the past couple of years people are becoming more hip to it,” Lu said, “It is now a whole new era, it is more appreciated, and people love to do it”.

The Picker Knows gives an opportunity to people who want to sell their classic and unique items and discover vintage items. The opportunities are awaiting those who want to sell their personal collections to the store. Having The Archive business in the store has brought attention to the people of Des Moines who are looking for thrifted clothing that suits their style. The Archive is a successful thrifting business that was created by two determined business partners that are passionate about vintage-wear.