Vintage venture offers a step back in time

A tree change for Chris and Nadiene Konopka has proven to be a great venture for the family with the decision to move from the big smoke in Melbourne to ‘#creeklife’ Cohuna last November. 

They started with a new business in a ‘Pop-up Shop’, overlooking the creek in the main street of town - what else could you ask for? 

Nearly five months on, their business ‘When I Was A Kid Vintage’ is all but child’s play. The dust has settled and a permanent spot established, nestled in the CBD tree-scaped main street with iconic memorabilia at the doorstep to draw you inside. 

The business venture is a welcome addition to the town, and with the usage of #creeklifecohuna as their brand to support the business, thing are about to get bigger! 

Sharing their love of vintage and collectables with the community and travelers through town is paying off. It’s not all about making a fortune, but creating an experience; a journey with a step back in time to relive childhood memories and days gone by, and maybe take a piece of that with you. 

Recycled, resused and lots of relics, this new business has it all. So much history and things that trigger forgotten memories. 

Chris reflects on the past five months to where the business is at now. 

“It’s a niche in the market in town and content driven by social media. I want people to remember the experience. I like to create a lifestyle brand, not only selling product, but the whole experience; engaging people to talk - which is what I love about the business. 

“We moved to Cohuna from Melbourne, threw our jobs in and gave up everything to have a different lifestyle and set up our business.” 

The pair set up the business to run in line with the ‘Big Cohuna Festival’ last year, but for Chris, his business vision started years back when he used to collect and sell green glass and uranium glass among other things. After selling at a fair, he decided to pursue this line of business. 

“In the past five years I have actually stopped ‘just collecting’ and I figured that if I tried to collect and sell it at the same time it would become a conflict of interest. I have to have no attachment now. I have to be able to give it to the next person and because of this I feel a lot better about it. 

“I can take a photo and I can share it online and once it sells I know that I have had it and that’s it. To be a caregiver to the next person, it’s quite a good feeling,” 

Chris reminisced on collecting erasers as a child, old football cards and more so ‘flicks’ and playing marbles back in the 80’s.

When the doors closed for the ‘Pop-up Shop’, they were approached almost immediately to see if they would be interested in renting the former Commonwealth Bank building, where they are now, having re-opened on December 28 last year. 

When Chris met his wife Nadiene, she too took on board the same interests in collecting. 

The couple’s first business was called ‘Pieces from the Past’ then renamed to ‘When I Was A Kid Antiques, then a final change to ‘When I Was A Kid Vintage’. 

Chris explained how the business branding began. 

“How this came about was in finding an old negative (featured in our logo branding), I was going to sell the negative but Nadiene convinced me otherwise. 

All of a sudden I noticed everyone mentions when they come to a shop like this they say ‘when I was a kid I remember this’. Then we put the face to the name. It was ‘antiques’, but changed it to ‘vintage’ 12 months ago,”

“It’s a tough industry at the moment but it depends on what you have. “Sometimes you can turn things over really quick and sometimes it takes a while and we understand that people don’t have that disposable income now. 

“We try to have things that are unique, a little different. Everything is usable and can be displayed nicely and just depends on what they are after,” 

“It’s the thrill of the hunt and thrill of the sell and everyone loves that sort of thing,” 

“It’s all about giving people special memories. A lot of things trigger memories and that’s so important. Delivering this for free is important for the brand. 

“Some items are really popular with organic reach, because they trigger off so many memories like the old rocker see-saw that went crazy! 

In a quirky question thrown at Chris – asking what his favourite item was in the shop. 

“That’s a tough one, I don’t think I can answer that! There are a number of items I like but I don’t have a connection. There’s not one thing that I come into the shop to look at and say ‘ohh there she is’!” he laughs. 

“I love the green and love the yellow. I think that’s probably green with envy maybe! 

Chris and Nadiene take to the road with their business doing markets, attending swap meets, antique fairs and more. With key social media through Facebook and Instagram and an online presence with Etsy and ebay, they are also in the process of developing their new website as they go. Their venture is setting up to give a red hot go. “Nadiene is now involved in the Cohuna Football and Netball Club as secretary and supports other community interests. We are also involved in the Cohuna Little Athletics with family.

“I believe in the physical presence as much as the online presence as it makes you real.

“Many cover up in ladybugs and penguins, instead of being a real person,” he laughed.

“I’m the real deal. This is who I am and this is what I want to sell to you, if you want it.

“I wanted to find something special for Cohuna and the brand #creeklifecohuna in supporting #whenIwasakidvintage with sharing of stunning sunsets, local fishing spots, just creek life in general and it would be great for others to utilise this as a follow.

“I love the town and the community has been supportive.

“We are looking to expand to include a lot more things including cameras, more old bank notes and coins and more ‘blokey’ type things too. Recently we did a call out with expressions of interest to sell local produce from within our business, which we are really excited to introduce,” he said. 

‘When I Was A Kid Vintage’ is open from 10am – 4pm Thursdays to Mondays.