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Green Tambourine — Vintage Heaven Worth a Day Trip
Mother-and-daughter duo Melissa and Eliza Korducavich run a vintage business inside a huge village building that houses almost 4,000 square feet of vintage items in Unadilla, NY.
“The two of us wanted to start a business together around 2018. We also started collecting and wearing a bit of vintage clothing around that time. Then in June of 2019, Melissa had the opportunity to be an extra on The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. After being costumed in several outfits, along with hair and makeup, Melissa was hooked on wearing vintage clothing! In the fall of 2019, Melissa’s grandmother passed away. We had just begun selling a bit of vintage online. We found a mother lode of vintage in Granny’s attic — suddenly our business was stocked.
In addition to selling online, we tried selling at three different antique co-ops. Once sales started increasing, we decided we needed a name we both loved — and a proper logo. We settled in for Green Tambourine. It is a 60s song by the Lemon Pipers. The song is catchy and the name gives you a groovy visual.
Our home became so full of inventory that we decided to look for a brick-and-mortar store. We put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into our store. The community was very supportive.
But between rent, utilities and insurance, we were pretty much breaking even.
Just before our one year anniversary, our friends at The Green Giraffe made us an offer we could not refuse, even though it meant giving up a space we loved and driving 40 minutes to the new one.
The Green Giraffe is a large 130-year-old village building which takes up an entire block. Originally, it was a funeral home and furniture and casket maker and then a furniture store. On the first two floors are vendor booths selling antiques, collectibles, upcycled goods, and other items. The third floor is clothing and textiles. This floor is a collaboration between three businesses: Everything Textiles from A to Z, The Vintage Closet, and Green Tambourine Vintage. There are almost 4,000 square feet of clothing, accessories, home decor and textiles. The clothing dates from the 1800s to Y2K.
Altogether The Green Giraffe is 16,000-square-foot historical space owned by longtime Unadilla resident Jackie Carey. The building was most recently Joyce’s Department Store, but the building itself has been a staple in the community for almost 200 years.
We specialize in fun, groovy and psychedelic clothing and accessories from the 60s and 70s. Most items are affordably priced, enabling many people to afford a piece of history. We have since branched out to also include many items from the 1800s to the 70s.
The vintage market has kept growing since we started. Prices have risen and new selling platforms keep appearing.
80s fashion has become popular as each generation reaches middle age, the fashion and decor of its youth comes back around.
Younger people also seem curious about what their parents wore as teenagers. 80s pop culture has been growing with the younger generations because of popular movies and music. 80s jeans, jackets, tracksuits, and tees are back in demand.
We are lucky to have many amazing repeat customers. One of them is a Hollywood actress who first purchased a 50s top and then a 40s belt from us. It’s crazy because she uses her home address for delivery. We’re glad that we are trusted.
We have also sold clothing to a costume designer who could only tell us that our clothing was worn at the opening of The Dead & Company show at the Sphere. She also purchased clothing for a movie she was working on. NDA’s prevent her from telling us more. We were told the decade, styles, and sizes she needed, and then we had total autonomy as far as what pieces were sent.
We both also have other jobs; Melissa is a special education teacher, college adjunct, and doctoral student, and Eliza is an undergrad college student. We never stop – it is work, school, estate sales, thrifting, online purchasing 24/7...but we absolutely love it!
We feel that the vintage clothing market will continue to grow, for two reasons. First, fast fashion today is nowhere near the quality of vintage.
Second, younger generations really take the reduce, reuse, repurpose mantra to heart.
Wearing and decorating with vintage saves items from ending up in the landfill and the result is often unique, sometimes one of a kind. It is a way to preserve history.
The secret to running a successful vintage store: watch trends, refresh your inventory on constantly, and keep up with new selling formats. Whatnot is a hot platform right now we’ve done well there and built a base of repeat customers.
Vintage is a piece of history. As time goes on, older pieces will only get scarcer — and more valuable. But vintage will always be around.”
Green Tambourine Vintage
The Green Giraffe
179 Main St, Unadilla
NY 13849
@greentambourinevintage
60s psychedelic vintage