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Meet Trailblazer Lauren Abbott

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Lauren Abbott.

So, before we jump into specific questions about the business, why don’t you give us some details about you and your story.
Coralun vintage, formerly Thrift Junkie Vintage, got started a decade ago while living in the redwoods of Northern California. The community of Humboldt County California is inspiring, filled with nature, art, and magic. The people who chose to live 5 hours into the redwood triangle, live there to be surrounded by nature, and away from any modern cities. They fully supported small business and the community even picketed a Walmart moving in. That’s what gave me the idea to start the shop small, knowing it would be supported by the creative, innovative people who lived there. I purchased a vintage olive green suitcase at an estate sale and painted the outside with my logo and fabric scraps. My little mobile shop called Thrift Junkie Vintage had begun. Filled with jewelry I had made, vintage coffee mugs and scarves I picked up at thrift stores along the PNW.

After a year, I moved to Greece to live with two of my closest friends from Arcata. We started a band in Pogonia, played in the streets of Lafkada and continued making jewelry from sea glass, shells and other natural elements I found along the Greek countryside. I sold to a local gift shop in Paleros and watched my jewelry line take off. As I backpacked around Italy and Spain, I visited as many small businesses as possible, asking questions along the way. What was most inspiring was that a majority of the European businesses were in 500 sq ft shops and smaller. This was very unlike the American dream of a large 1500 sq ft space. When I asked if they wanted to expand I was always given the same response. “If you expand much larger you lose the sense of community and no longer know the people who support you.” This was a revolutionary moment in my storefront dream, and one of the largest turning points for my passion to move forward.

When I moved back stateside, I found home in Manitou Springs, CO. This quaint mountain town at the base of, “America’s Mountain”, Pikes Peak, served as the home for the future store. I purchased a 1962 hunting camper up in Denver, a Nissan Frontier pick up truck and hand-painted the exterior of the camper in my backyard. I alongside my husband put in dry erase board walls, a dressing room, and wood floors. Thrift Junkie Vintage Mobile drove around Colorado Springs CO to Farm and Art Markets, First Friday events, Pop Up Markets and house parties.

After a year, I rented a 250 sq ft shop downtown in an old motel turned apartment building. My shop was the original office for the 1940s motel. After that year the shop blossomed to my current 450 sq ft location downtown Colorado Springs. Since the shop started in an old suitcase then 12 x 7 camper, I had grown talent for creating storefronts in small spaces. After a decade, the shop grew and evolved and so did the name. In January of 2019, the name changed from Thrift Junkie Vintage to CORALUN Vintage. The name comes from the two major loves of my life (outside of my incredibly supportive husband Nick and my family) CORA is the name of our beloved dog who greets visitors in the shop every day, and LUN from Luna, the moon. Adding the natural element also added gemstones and other new-age pieces to the vintage and secondhand clothes and accessories that already filled the shop. The re/brand also made me refocus the shop from a storefront to a studio for me to work on my jewelry line, CORALUN Handmade. Every day, I create new pieces for my jewelry line as well as bespoke pieces for people in my community

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Unfortunately, no part of owning a small business is a smooth road, or everyone would do it. Those are the words that are reminded to me by loved ones every time I reach a hiccup in the shop. The community of support and determination of following your dream is really what gets you to move forward. At the time of Thrift Junkie Vintage Mobile, mobile businesses were not in Colorado Springs. Myself, alongside other food trucks, worked with the downtown partnership change the municipal coding to allow mobile businesses to operate. On top of navigating permits and codes, there was also the struggle of maintaining a feeling of success even when it wasn’t always there in a monetary sense. After years of operating the boutique, I would say my largest piece of advice is to focus on mental health. We are in an age of social media where everyone looks successful and it’s easy to compare your work with others. All you can do is work your hardest, give yourself and your business space and time to grow and allow yourself the patience to allow that growth to happen. Other snippets would include scrapping the FOMO attitude from your mind, focusing on self-growth and allowing your original idea and dream to grow, shift and evolve. Honestly, go with the flow.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about CORALUN Vintage – what should we know?
CORALUN Vintage is known for its vintage and handmade. The curated vintage and second hand is from the 1960s to present day. Focusing on bohemian and funky pieces with a story. I do a majority of my curating from the public and estate sales so I can get first-hand accounts of the garments and the magic behind them. Handmade comes from my jewelry line, CORALUN Handmade that I create in the studio workspace every day. The line focuses on locally sourced gemstones in small-batch, wearable art designs. There are also 5 local makers curated in the shop in the forms of soaps, Reiki rollers, gemstones, and a monthly featured local artist.
The European small business model is at the foundation of the boutique. Most of the signs and tags are hand-drawn and hand-painted. The furniture and fixtures are mostly made at home with a sense of bringing that old school; DIY, small mom and pop shop feel back into a bustling community. The main light fixture that hangs over the jewelry line was crafted from walking sticks we had used for years on our hiking and camping adventures and re-created into the hanging light structure. The shop is also adorned with numerous moon fixtures to create the new age, Boheme feels that comes from our logo and name.

What’s the most important piece of advice you could give to a young woman just starting her career?
I think that moving away from the hustle of working for someone else takes a lot of courage and strength. The best advice I can give a young woman just starting her career is to not give up. With reality tv and make it quick schemes, it’s easy to fall into a mental state that says, I’m not doing enough or it is not growing fast enough. A business is like a child, every year it grows and expands and it is a slow pace. You must learn to crawl before you walk and walk before you run. Allow yourself and your business the time it requires to do just that.

The shop is most inspired by my travels, small European shops, folklore, history, nature, and my family. My mother, who owns an art gallery in St. Louis, MO always took me thrifting, to antique malls, and estate sales. She sparked my love of art, travel and all things retro. My clothing, musical love and passion for creative endeavors comes mostly from her influence. The business-minded, determined and, “get back on the saddle” attitude comes from my father who has been an entrepreneur with my mother in St. Louis for over 30 years. To love vintage is to love nostalgia and the history and stories of the past and this shop does its best to create that small space for lovers of the like, here in Colorado Springs. The interior constantly changes and rotates with the seasons, utilizing most of our light from the large windows in the front. Once a month, we host an event called lights out where turn off all of the main lights and allow the cafe mood lights that dangle from the ceiling to illuminate the space. We open the door, play world music, have rotating artists, tarot card reading, henna painting and try to emulate the feel of shopping in an outdoor European market. Coralun vintage is a one-stop-shop to be transported to a magical place of the past.

Pricing:

  • All things in the shop are under $100
  • The shop includes vintage and second hand to lower the carbon footprint and allow a wide range of sizing
  • The jewelry line CORALUN handmade is made in shop daily in our In-Shop Studio Space

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Becca Howard, CORALUN Vintage, Sun Chaser Studios

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