Written by: Jillian VanDyke
One small business to support this Small Business Saturday — a storefront carrying local streetwear brands and unique vintage and sneakers
In the midst of changing fashion trends and all-over-the-place marketing, Bailey Campbell decided to roll the dice and open his own store in Canton, Ohio. Curated is a store that carries vintage clothing and streetwear by local brands, along with new and used sneakers lining the shelves. This venture started in 2015 when Campbell was introduced to the sneakerhead community and got into buying and reselling. He knew after doing this for quite some time on his own that he wanted to create a storefront that showcased all these pieces of streetwear fashion. The store opened on July 30 and is near the Belden Village shopping area in Canton, Ohio, an hour’s drive south of Cleveland.
Curated values ethical business practices, which is meaningful when shopping on Small Business Saturday.
The turnaround time for kick-starting this business was extremely quick. The original plan was to put a store in Kent, Ohio, but Campbell decided in June to open in Canton, Ohio. Location played a significant role in this decision; there was not a store like Curated within 30 miles, so opening it in Canton would give people the ability to shop secondhand and new streetwear locally. Curated values ethical business practices, which is meaningful when shopping on Small Business Saturday.
Campbell wanted his store to help build connections with people in the community...
Curated has a handful of employees who buy, sell and trade items in the store. Campbell wanted his store to help build connections with people in the community, so he made sure to hire people that were knowledgeable and have the same desires to grow the store and reach a new audience. Campbell grew his shoe collection so that he was able to line his shelves with sneakers. When it came to the vintage side of things, Zachary Jackson curated the vintage clothing that takes up the other side of the store. Campbell and Jackson find items that you would love in your closet so that you don’t have to dig for them in-store or online at other places.
Along with the sneakers and vintage clothing, in the middle of the store, you’ll find streetwear brands such as Supreme and Eric Emanuel. However, brands made by people in NE Ohio are also included, like Timeless and Tanglewood.
Shopping at Curated is an experience that makes one feel like they are included in the fashion world. Much like thrifting, customers can come and search the racks or simply gawk at the wall of sneakers. The experience is like luxurious thrifting and makes shopping for shoes a beautiful experience. In the back corner of the store are a couple of couches and a TV, which encourages customers to sit and visit. Curated’s mission is that people who enter the doors leave with more than just an article of clothing. The TV and PS4 allow customers to play video games or watch a commercial video with the workers or fellow shoppers.
Curated’s mission is that people who enter the doors leave with more than just an article of clothing.
Bailey Campbell is the owner of Curated, and his journey with fashion does not stay within the walls of the store. When I spoke with Cambell, he emphasized that community is integral to how he runs things.
Tell me about what made you interested in clothes/sneakers.
Seeing different sneakers in middle school basketball made me want to have a selection to choose from myself. That got me looking into cooler shoes and I started looking into shoes to wear casually shortly after.
When did you start buying/selling?
I started attending trade shows in early 2015. This was the spark that really made me interested in the buy-sell-trade environment and looking at sneakers in a profit/loss aspect.
Describe what led up to your career in fashion.
Putting myself around people who I looked up to in their personal tastes as well as people who had similar interests. I was able to put myself around a lot of entrepreneurs growing up and was able to witness some of their experiences in business. After going to Kent State to attain a bachelor’s in Business Administration, I was presented with an opportunity to sign a lease on a store and that is when I realized that this might become a long-term career.
I’ve always wanted to create an environment that younger me would enjoy and could grow my own personal tastes within.
What made you want to open your own store?
I’ve always wanted to create an environment that younger me would enjoy and could grow my own personal tastes within. I feel that presenting our hand-picked inventory to our customers can help them expand their tastes in the culture that we exist in.
Describe the process of opening your own store.
It all started when I was leaving a partnership at a previous store last year. Having disagreements with a partner on what the best options were for inventory, allocation of funds, and differences in our priorities made me realize that it wasn’t going to work out long term. From this point on, my co-manager (Zachary Jackson) and I began curating inventory and searching for available places to sign a store lease. On July 1st of this year, I signed the lease and we began making progress into opening the store. With some long days through the month of July, we opened on July 30th.
What has been going well since opening?
I’ve been really happy with the reception we have received from our customers and their help with spreading the word about our store. The customers seem to be really happy with the selection and prices. Having Zach pricing all the clothing helps us because we are pricing everything from a long-time consumer’s perspective. The buy/sell/trade aspect has helped us get many customers, who don’t necessarily have the cash liquid to buy shoes, into a new pair by trading in items they don’t wear anymore.
What are the learning curves of running a store?
There has definitely been a transition to valuing time off. Before opening, I was still selling shoes but it was at a very slow pace, and I had to put minimal hours into every day. Now I have to make sure I take my time away from the store to make sure I’m not getting burnt out with work. It’s difficult to do because the store is my favorite place to be.
...it’s refreshing meeting new people and discovering their personal tastes on a day to day basis.
What are your favorite parts of having a store?
My favorite part of having the store is working in a social environment where my customers have similar interests. Everyone has their own tastes so it’s refreshing meeting new people and discovering their personal tastes on a day to day basis.
Do you have plans on specials for Black Friday or Small Business Saturday?
We are planning on opening early on Black Friday and having some crazy doorbuster deals, as well as a storewide sale on everything we offer. We will most likely be extending that sale for the whole weekend to celebrate Small Business Saturday as well.
Address: 2808 Whipple Ave NW, Canton, OH 44708
IG: @curated.oh
(330) 915-8199
Sun-Sat 12-7 Closed Mondays
Buying – Selling – Trading