Roughly two decades ago, a hobby turned into a business venture for Patrick Klima.
As an enthusiast of collecting vintage clothing, he began to notice the value of that type of clothing going up. So he began selling vintage T-shirts online, in addition to collecting, under the brand name WyCo Vintage.
Since its launch on eBay, WyCo Vintage (named after Klima’s native Wyandotte County), has continued to steadily grow, eventually going brick-and-mortar with a Kansas City, Missouri, storefront.
The business has also garnered the attention of celebrity clientele like rappers Drake and Lil Yachty, actor Pete Davidson and multiple Kansas City Chiefs players.
This summer, the business will grow even further, heading to Johnson County this time. WyCo Vintage plans to unveil a new Overland Park store in early June.
WyCo Vintage is coming to Oak Park Mall
- The clothing store is moving into a space on the upper level of the mall, which is just off 95th Street and Quivira Road.
- It will be near the mall’s food court, in a space previously occupied by GameStop.
- Once it opens, WyCo Vintage’s regular hours will be the same as the mall’s — which are 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., Sunday.
WyCo Vintage sells both vintage and modern clothing
In addition to the T-shirts that WyCo Vintage initially became known for, the store also carries other items like shoes, jackets, hats and sweatshirts.
Customers browsing the collections can find items adorning the names of retro bands like Metallica, Nirvana and Guns N’ Roses. It’s a large enough selection that customers can shop vintage items by their own measurements, which Klima said is hard to find with other vintage carriers.
“We have a really unique experience that we provide here, and we’ve been doing it for a while,” Klima said. “It makes the shopping experience so much better for the user to be able to know that when you get something, it’s going to actually fit.”
WyCo Vintage’s modern inventory features brands like Supreme and Anti Social Social Club, along with items from WyCo Vintage’s own original clothing lines. A new clothing line is currently in the works called Addition by Subtraction, which Klima characterized as “high-end streetwear.”
“It’s kind of got a vintage inspiration to it,” he said. “Obviously, that’s kind of where all of this started for me.”
This marks WyCo Vintage’s first Johnson County store
WyCo Vintage’s first storefront opened on Broadway Boulevard in Kansas City, Missouri, in 2018.
Klima said he’s been eyeing the Oak Park Mall for a while. That’s in part because of the sheer foot traffic it could provide on busy days.
“I think Oak Park Mall is the perfect place, because it’s a destination,” he said. “It’s a really great space, and for the kind of concept that we envisioned, it just couldn’t have been better.”
By bringing WyCo Vintage to Overland Park, he said, he’s looking forward to getting its collections in front of a new audience — in addition to being closer to the customers who might not make the drive to its Kansas City store as often.
“It really is something special that we have here,” he said. “We hope we’re bringing some excitement, and some new energy to the mall. That’s what excites us.”
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