Lucky Strike Vintage, a new thrift store in the Downtown Arts District, is nothing if not eclectic.
A Dale Earnhardt Sr. jacket hangs on one wall; vinyl records hang on another. Shelves overflow with cowboy boots and lace-up shoes, with blue suede moccasins and black patent-leather heels. Racks carry turquoise prom dresses, cycling jerseys, fur coats, plaid pants.
There's a bookshelf that holds, among other things, a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book and a biography of Frank Sinatra.
"I'm really fueling my niche for shopping vintage," said owner Vicki Moore, who also owns Elliott's Revue and the Silver Moon Saloon. She pointed to a cropped leather jacket with leather fringe hanging across the front. "It's hard for me to see something like that coat and leave it laying there."
The shop, on Seventh Street between Trade and Liberty streets, is also filling what had been an empty space: In the past, Moore tried running a studio out of it, and her husband tried to teach guitar lessons there.
"We've done many incarnations here, but nothing really stuck," she said.
Last fall, a friend suggested she open a thrift store. So, after months of planning and collecting, Moore did.
Lucky Strike Vintage opened June 9, and so far, has done most of its business at night. The shop opens at 5 p.m. on Thursdays. On Fridays and Saturdays, it opens at 2 p.m. and stays open until midnight.
Moore is thinking about expanding those hours in October — "It's just not working for people who have, like, a schedule, who have to, you know, go to work," she said, laughing.
She stocks guitar strings and drumsticks in case musicians playing across the street at The Garage need them. And so far, she said, her clientele has been a steady stream of artists, college kids and music lovers.
On Thursday evening, Heather Kierstead and Stephen Dunn browsed the racks. Kierstead, 25 and a dog-walker, said she came into the store about a month ago with her sister. They were at a show at The Garage, Kierstead said, and her sister's skirt kept blowing up. They ran across the street, "and she found the perfect dress," Kierstead said.
"I love how everything is so unique — you can tell someone really took some time to pick everything out," she said.
Dunn, 24 and a personal chef, looked over Moore's collection of mesh-back hats on Thursday night.
"These are all things you can't get anywhere else," Dunn said. "You could go to Goodwill, but it would take you years to find stuff like this."
So far, Lucky Strike is a for-profit thrift store, but Moore said if it starts making money, she would donate to charity. She also dreams of opening satellite stores in Greensboro and Raleigh.
For now, though, she is focusing on networking with would-be customers in Winston-Salem. One connection she is hoping to make: "the gentleman's clubs in town," she said, gesturing to a vintage red-tasseled bit of lingerie.
"I have found some interesting costumes," she said. "We have a big community of hula hoopers and fire dancers. … I feel like people will come around to thinking of vintage costumes for their performances."
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