When Lauren Sadasivan McCoy refers to ‘The Future,’ she’s not talking about what’s to come. She’s talking about her clothing store – The Future on Forsyth, a new retro boutique on the corner of Whitaker and Gwinnett streets.
When customers enter the store, she greets them, “Welcome to The Future.”
The clothing boutique, which opened two weeks ago, offers a variety of vintage clothing — everything from funky sunglasses and dresses covered in images of cats to southwestern shirts and ponchos, woven sweaters, bedazzled jackets, bowties and floral pants.
“It’s more oriented toward vintage and retro pieces,” said Erin Walkey, the clothing manager. “We want to have those one-of-a-kind pieces that you can’t find anywhere else.”
For the three months leading up to the grand opening on Sept. 26, McCoy traveled, collecting clothes to sell in the store. She acquired the space at 106 W Gwinnett St. in mid-June. It previously housed West Park Salon.
“I traveled pretty much all over the country looking for these really
special items,” said McCoy. “I went to flea markets, estate sales, junk shops and thrift stores everywhere.”
This isn’t the first thrift store where McCoy has worked in Savannah, but it’s the first she’s owned. McCoy, who studied fashion at the Savannah College of Art and Design, previously worked at Civves as a manager.
“From my understanding, she knew since she graduated college that’s what she wanted to do — open up her own store of vintage clothing,” said Walkey.
McCoy knows she’s not strolling into the Savannah vintage store market without competition.
Civves, the vintage clothing boutique on Broughton Street, has gained a following and, Walkey said, many customers have pointed out similarities.
“I think that the only thing that really connects the two is that we have vintage clothing and stuff like that,” said Walkey.
The Future on Forsyth does not use the buy, sell, trade model that Civves does. Instead they’re focusing on vintage and retro pieces.
“What I really wanted to do to set myself apart from other stores and to really have well thought out pieces,” said McCoy. “Each piece has been thought out for someone, even if we don’t know who that person is.”
She can speak from experience, not just as a normal clothing shopper, but as someone who prefers a little vintage.
“I’ve always loved vintage clothing,” said McCoy. “I’ve always been someone who kind of gets their style not from a store or whatever, but just from flea markets and thrift stores.”
McCoy said she wants to show people they can choose their own style.
“It’s less about brand now and who you’re wearing,” said McCoy. “It’s more about having your own individual style, your own spin on something and I think that’s The Future.”
Since the boutique is geared toward a variety of people, the items vary in price, ranging from $5 vintage lingerie to items as much as $120.
“We have a lot of inexpensive things, but there’re nicer pieces with fur or embellishments, that are handmade or a little more detailed, at a higher price,” she said.
The Future on Forsyth is one of the only stores by the park on Whitaker, and McCoy takes this on as a challenge and with pride.
“I want The Future to be the anchor store of this portion of Whitaker,” said McCoy. “And just kind of grow this whole design district area.”
She sees the shift downtown, with more brand name stores opening around Broughton Street, as an opportunity.
“With the changes that are happening downtown, I think it’s going to push local businesses outward and I think it’s good,” said McCoy. “Sometimes Savannah has the tendency to stagnate and get kind of comfortable and I think sometimes just a shakeup is great. It brings a lot of new fresh ideas.”
But right now, she and Walkey are just focusing on the store at hand, getting ready to pull out the men’s and women’s leather cowboy boots for the fall and start planning the Halloween party for The Future.
McCoy has already put one rack of costumes out in the store and will have more coming soon.
“I’m excited to see what happens in the future for The Future,” said Walkey.
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/TheFutureonForsyth