This Rags-To-Riches Business Has Beat The Retail Apocalypse (HBO)
Vložit
- čas přidán 28. 03. 2019
- Traffic on the corner of Melrose and Fuller regularly comes to a halt here on any given Saturday, as shoppers from near and far dart through traffic in designer sneakers. They’re trying to get from one Round Two store to the next.
A few years ago, this corner was empty. Now it’s Round Two’s block, or “village,” as owner Sean Wotherspoon calls it, with its three stores clustered for a unique retail experience. In the Round Two vintage store, shoppers comb through vintage Polo jackets, Janet Jackson tour T-shirts, and other rare vintage finds, some with $200 pricetags. Next door, customers in the main store are hanging out more than shopping. Some are just taking it all in - they’ve only seen the place on Round Two’s CZcams show. The third store, dedicated to Round Two’s own branded merchandise, is hosting a pop-up event for a young New York designer. The DJ is in the back setting up for the evening’s party. There’s a chance A$AP Nast will come by.
It’s brick-and-mortar gold in the era of the “retail apocalypse.” Along with Round Two’s other stores, they clock estimated annual sales of about $20 million.
Wotherspoon, 29, started collecting vintage clothes in a 10-by-10 storage unit in Richmond, Virginia, in 2013. Locals would come by for rare clothes that were sourced from thrift stores or flea markets for few dollars. There was such a demand that Wotherspoon teamed up with a couple friends and opened an official brick-and-mortar across town. They began to film their day-to-day operation and interactions with customers inside the store and published the hourlong episodes on CZcams. “The Show” became an in-house advertising and content factory. The videos drew a loyal following, even some who’d never stepped foot in the store.
Six years later, the Round Two vintage empire has expanded to hip sections of several destination cities. Each store - they’re in New York, Miami, Los Angeles and Richmond- is an antidote to the cold pretention of retailers like Supreme and Kith, while also managing to avoid vintage-store musty. In each location, the stock reflects regional tastes. Vintage Disneyland shirts fly off the racks in the Miami location. Film and music merchandise sells great in Los Angeles. New Yorkers love old Polo and Supreme. The highly curated, massive supply of priceless ‘90s gear, sports memorabilia, and fashion odds and ends is what keeps the hype going, along with an army of Round Two fans endlessly posting on Instagram about their finds and experiences.
“The Show” has became a star-studded event, and there’s talks of it moving to a larger platform.
“We just wanted to document what we were doing, and ended up turning it into a show. We put it on CZcams, and that's what got us recognition, like, outside of Virginia. That made us able to expand out here, and then international,” Wotherspoon explained to VICE NEWS.
VICE News tagged along with Wotherspoon on a shopping trip to a huge rag house where he stocked up with about $2,000 worth of Madonna tour shirts, 1970s denim, and other vintage finds - to be resold at his stores for about 30 percent more.
Subscribe to VICE News here: bit.ly/Subscribe-to-VICE-News
Check out VICE News for more: vicenews.com
Follow VICE News here:
Facebook: / vicenews
Twitter: / vicenews
Tumblr: / vicenews
Instagram: / vicenews
More videos from the VICE network: www. vicevideo
Recycling clothes is pretty environmentally friendly. I personally wouldn't pay that much for used clothes but it's pretty dope that people are creating good looks out of what would otherwise be wasted fabric and labor.
Also, great opportunity to sell those funky concert tees you bought years back and never wore.
pretty dope.
Yeah, the only problem I have with it is the sheer amount of money they are wasting for this trash. That's my only problem.
@@jesuslightsmyway Why is it trash? Value is 100% subjective and if someone wants to spend $200 on a old shirt instead of wasting resources on a brand new one then that's all gravy in my book
Here in Phillippines we call it "ukay-ukay"
@@williambjork2777 Amen on that. They arent pointing a gun to anyones head to force anyone to buy. If someone wants to buy a 30,000 hand bag, why cant consumers buy a 200 dollar shirt? Its their money.
70 percent of their profit comes from hype clothes not vintage
@DW DW what the dood is trying to say is that most of the profit comes from the hype clothes they sell. In the video you can see he's selling off white air jordan 1s and he has shirts by cpfm (which rarely go under 200).
They hate because they can’t relate
What are Hype Clothes?
@@JoshiiiGriiim oh ok. Thanks
This is probably the most amazing thing I've seen in a long time. Real question, what exactly are hype clothes? Real question, no shade. I'm older.
I went to Round Two Hollywood last summer. I brought some vintage tees and they cashed me out for nearly $500 cash. A short trip to the store gave me some extra $p£nds for my holiday. The staff in the vintage store were super cool and polite. Sean was dealing with people near the entrance as we were leaving, he stopped his conversation, turned around and thanked us for coming into the store. SUPER nice dude! I'm glad they're doing so well. Great guys with a real passion for what they do.
How many shirts did you actually in up buying?
@@c.l.1820 he bought 9 shirts
Hey thanks for buying my old shit though I don’t know why you paid $500 when it cost me $10, oh and sorry for the pit stains
John Doe My dude he said they “cashed him out” meaning they gave him 500 dollars for his shit
Aldaz Muñiz You think if I bring my vintage Power Ranger undies they’ll give me something? They do have some 20 year old skid marks on them, but otherwise they’re in good condition. I wonder if I’ll be able to see Sean at the store and I’ll be able to sell him my vintage adidas socks with holes in them, the holes add to the aesthetic btw so maybe I’ll charge extra.
Hunting is the fun part of thrifting. Ill never understand how people buy this high price crap. Look for your own treasures, its better and cheaper
I agree. It's like a subtle dopamine high that never really ends. I still can't believe I found this K70 mechanical keyboard for 1 dollar at a garage sale.
Seriously, you can find some crazy stuff just floating around out there for dirt cheap.
And I'm rich. But, I still like spending as little as insanely possible to get the highest quality goods I can.
b-b the hunt really is the best, I do estate sales but they are hit and miss. One sale might be full of 80’s acid wash Guess and the next is full of Alfred Dunner garbage. So to have it all in one place saves time to sell it and make profit when you do this full time.
@@skeezix8156 I love estate sales! Some of my best and coolest finds come from those!
On Melrose Avenue my friend and I went to a store and there was a dress we saw in downtown LA for $15 dollars but in this store was $120 dollars we were shocked by that ,those stores make money out of stupid people.
b-b exactly.
props to the guy for selling these fools something that he bought at village store
francis dolarhyde Thats LA for ya
Really goes to show the power of marketing and being able to connect with your target audience.
I'll pay good money for a Heaven's Gate nikes.
Christopher N
Really goes to show that you can rip of anyone who didn’t have to work for their money
James Chungus I found the broke boy comment
Why are people hating on this? Recycling clothes is the best fashion trend that could have ever happened to this planet, and good for this guy for making a profit from it. Dudes living my dream honestly. I'm sure his success has a lot to do with marketing, and he knows what people want to buy. He's not just selling your old sweatpants you donated to Goodwill.
Macy Miller i wouldnt wanna wear a shirt with pit stains from another person on it
Not everyone want a used cloth.....
People are miserable and when an idea is so simple and brilliant at the same time.... people look for reasons to down play it.... This guy has rich kids coming from Sydney Australia and Mexico to buy used clothes...no different than someone going to a junkyard to buy a beat up classic car fixing it and flipping it for 4 times what they bought it for...
@@ndigs but he doesn't repair the shirts. The tees are the same condition he buys it from that warehouse. He's not adding an value to the tee.
@@kenS87 the tee doesn't need added value through customizations. Supply and demand. Like that Madonna shirt at the beginning. That's a 90's shirt, and since it was a tour shirt, a limited amount was made, making the $200 price point realistic, especially considering Madonna is a highly prolific figure.
You're just hurt that he's making 20 million a year for selling your parents clothes.
Agree. And i'm for those people who don't acknowledge this type of hustle
his job looks like hell to me lol, wouldn't do it for anny kind of money. pretending, hyping, lying, playing people, fake smiles, youtube acting, marketing stress, reselling. ugh really takes a sellout sleezball to get through all of that XD
@@CroElectroStile money is money man
@@akashpaul3682
You don’t need money to survive
@@CroElectroStile you sound miserable
“If your brick-and-mortar is dying I think you suck” lmao a legend
Anddddddd where is Round 2 now???? 😂
Overpriced thrift clothes. This is so hipster.
zambimaru money is money
Is not even hipster, most of his clients are hypebeasts
Definition of hipster lol
Hipsters are just hippies man 😂💀🤦♂️.
20 million dollar hipster
He's balling doesn't even know how much he makes a year
I wouldn't give that info out neither
When you get money you become contempt and fear any moment you can lose it all
“When you know how much you have, you’re not rich enough” - Imelda Marcos(maybe)
the IRS knows...
That boy literally rented a whole block of retail space in LA
"If your brick and mortar is closing you suck." Wow. How insightful.
He’s such a poet
So much shade being thrown over this guy. He is a curator...and that is a talent. Plus, he's doing the legwork of finding/accumulating the product which takes a lot of time. Props to him for building a successful business.
Good on them. They tapped into a niche market. Not that many people wanna scour the thriftshops for hours. They’re basically the intermediary for hypebeasts.
Having a store that you can go to and *know* you'll find stuff you want, is gold. That's what these guys are doing. It looks like they're super organized and keep the place clean which is a big plus.
They do now
Except these guys are scummy. They send employees to thrift shops all over cleaning everything good out before the stores even open. No point going to any thrift 100 miles from any of their stores. Also these dude's ain't poor their basically taking clothes that are supposed to be cheap for people that don't have alot of money and selling it at ridiculous prices.
F them
Respect, these dudes are real entrepreneurs.
Killacamfoo O.G.
Not even tho lived across the street from there 1st store in RVA
Not even one of the best thrifts in Richmond
James Herr Cause the shit ain’t a thrift store lol dude said he was a real entrepreneur not that he had the best “thrift” store in the world
They honestly got lucky that Sean brought his friend gram into the picture. Without him there would be no videography hens no round 2
Craazy seeing how big Sean is now. Remember back in the days skating at the park with this man
*Only a good business man knows how to sell overpriced items to fools. Kudos to this guy.*
Lol I can’t believe how stupid some people are that maddona shirt looks awful and bad quality.
I buy vintage clothes all the time. Jk I buy old crap at at goodwill because I'm poor
I buy almost exclusively at thrift stores. I find some very nice clothing and save a ton of money.
Asher Scott Tbh thats probably where they get their clothes on the East Coast
yeah same here man. why buy at a vintage store when you can find it at a thrift store
@@ilhamomar5596 Very smart 👍
Same but I’ve found some really vintage stuff
Theyll buy a shirt off u for 50 and sell it for 500 smh
Brian B. Dude, they only sell that kind of price to Rare Vintage and if it is like only 2 made in the world.
@@suerizqy21 huh? 500 is nothing for a t shirt nowadays. 2 in the world? They will sell a super mass prouduced shirt for $1000. Vintage is huge right now.
I love it. Get yours dude. Especially in a time like this, if you can succeed with a store like that, you're killing it. The way he interacts with his customers goes quite a long way. He knows what's up.
So this is basically just a well-branded, expensive thrift store? I know a lot of great thrift stores with quality clothes at low prices. This seems all about the hype.
Nathaniel Gonsalves he’s finding designer pieces and old memorabilia that was only sold on tours not just some random shit
It's always about the hype.
@@thexvault it's not all designer. Most of it is old t-shirts and big athletic brands, before designer collabs.
Tbh Richmond has been a big thrifting hub for a while now
Round 2 isn’t even the 3rd store I think of when it comes to thrifting
I always thought it was a sneaker shop
@@thexvault you've got a point. Still though, you can find all that sort of stuff at thrift stores if you're willing to look.
About 5 years ago my brothers and I went to their tiny shop in Richmond when they first started. I was 13 and most of the stuff wasn’t for me, a girl, but I remember being so blown away with what they had made. So happy to see they’ve been so successful!!!
In the Philippines it’s called “Ukay-Ukay”... literally means, “dig-dig”.
Indonesian it's called "awul-awul" and also means "dig-dig" haha.
Adam Fadill something new i learned from a neighbor... hehe!😜👍
Hahahahaha trueeeee
It’s the nostalgia that sells. That moment in time where we all wish we can re-live again.
So people want a "vintage" shirt with armpit stains?
People prefer it not having stains, but you can't always avoid them
You know you can clean those right?
@@pastelpurpledeathbed most stains can but not all, I tend to bleach stains out of all whites and use vanish on coloured stuff, I don't buy new clothing due to the impact it has on our environment and the fact I just love the thrift scene, I've found every top fashion brand in a thrift store for a few bucks
Depends
Yeah...welcome to 2019...we now have dry cleaning 👍😃
That Madonna T was from the Blonde Ambition Tour - Best tour of the 1990s !
I guess i’ll be going for the brand new tracking pants also!
He hit the nail on the head! People want the experience and the story more than they want the object itself. Retailers are dying because they're annoying.
And unethical
This is also good for the environment, lets hope big retail brands follow suit.
Lol that's cute. You must be new to this world.
john doe jajajaja 😂😂🤣🤣
@@johndoe-gt4rx There are several brands, not big name ones that do follow this practice. So, no. Not really. Lol.
@AlphaX Given how agribusiness companies reacted to the GMO and gluten free trends, I think they will "waste their time". People end up making decisions with their wallets my guy. Not hard to figure out.
@AlphaX Beacuse it's cheaper? Really? Have you even been to a store in the past few years? If anything, your ignorance is showing buddy.
This guy started from nothing now he has his like 3-4 stores and his own shoes from basically reselling
Gota admire it Im hella inspired
7 stores with another on the way he says
7
If the world stayed humble like Sean it would be a better planet.
Love it. Love the guys and the show and the store.
Its not about where the clothes come from. It's about the rarity and condition like any other commodity. "Vintage" is relative, but the quality and uniqueness of clothes made in places like Korea during the 80's 90's is undeniably.
Please don't explain. If you know you know.
I disagree, this is not high fashion. These are mass produced items which most of us throw away in the trash, some people don’t and they end up here. When supreme puts a music icon on a tee, then people want similar tees, especially these rich hypebeast kids.
All the other shit in that warehouse is worth the same, just is not in fashion at the moment. If you go to Poland or Eastern European countries they have tons and tons of secondhand clothing warehouses and stores with items less than a dollar, even fur coats...but they don’t have the hypebeasts like they do in rich countries.
Sean and round two are the most humble and chilled guys ever. It's a no brainer why there doing so well in business. They have the right attitude and will always take time out there way for you, no matter how much money they make.
Honestly Sean is an inspiration when I heard he was coming out with a pair of shoes with Nike I was hyped then sneaker resellers took all the pairs
My mans wearing a South African T-shirt 🇿🇦
Antonio Vasconcelos yep, Vlone
2000+ dollars for couple of raggedy tshirts. crazy!
Firdaus Ismail Old dude was banking on these guys 😂 He knows how they flip it so he’s gotta get his in somehow
It still just a tshirts.
He's right when he says the retail stores closing suck. Many of those brands have lost touch as to why customers liked the brands to begin with. Also brands need to adapt and some don't.
😳
I'm starting a used vintage underwear store.
Erik C maybe have vintage poo stains too
Hey man don't hate those skidmarked Underoos from the 80s with ninja turtles on them worth some big money now
Isn’t this just eBay in person?
w/o huge Ebay fees and psycho Ebay buyers forcing you to refund them, yes.
Now I know where my old Nike shirt went when I put it in that giant metal container near the supermarket that says "Help the Homeless"
Repping South Africa with our flag on Sean's shirt 🔥
the interviewer is asking all the right questions. perfect narration
The bad thing about this “vintage” trend is the overpriced clothing for cheap shirts. It’s hard to find unique shirts, but the only good thing is once you find a unique shirt it’s totally worth the time invested. Either way the price you pay for someone else finding a shirt is not justified enough, although, arguably you could say you paying for the time they took. This shouldn’t be $60 -$200 for a vintage look shirt. This should be a go and find yourself and grind for the look you want. The experience and reward is totally worth it.
I love this instead of buying shitty new clothes that will either fall apart or be out of style in a month they extend the life of old almost one of a kind pieces making their personal style in the process.
This guy probably busted his ass off to find all those pieces and continues too. Some people get lucky but others are smart. Kudos man!
Dude is a genius. Perfectly blended marketing, social media and business!!! Good On him.
Grinding is soooo real out here, love this video.
Wow the guy with warehouse got over on them!
Right? I could go to salvation army or a thrift store and get shirts like that for 3 bucks each lol.
It’ll be worth it once they get over on on all the hype beast teens.
He sure did.
@AlphaX They probably sell more vintage at a lower tier price than the higher tier prices. I think perhaps the deal between him and the warehouse guy was fabricated so people don't catch on. They probably do deals by the pound I feel and either person doesn't want to let out their 200% to 500% mark ups. I was in a similar business and we would get things for literally cents and were surprised how much people would pay for some items.
This company's social media doesn't seem to be super popular, the comment sections are rather dead. They do net a decent amount from their youtube channel but it's kinda coming off as just another one of those "Hype Beast" things, or maybe a fake it till you make it. The 'vintage' business is booming but he probably makes more off of the newer stuff. I still applaud them.
@AlphaX Yeah, these hype trains have been going for awhile, but eventually people will want something new and shiny. Most people don't even want vintage clothing, they want retro clothing. Maybe they have some sorta plan, but hell his business is risky.
Height St in San Francisco was already doing this since way back when. I use to go shop there all time since 1992-2008. Back before it was the cool thing to do. But I know they were already doing that long before I even started to shop there.
These guys made hustling an art. Respect!
brilliant dude. love it!
Love sean so much, a shame that his second collab with Nike didnt work out.
That's my friend and I at 6:30!! Hahaha so dope 😝
You look beautiful :)
I love seeing these videos on round 2 I love everything about their business and if I ever started up one I would want to try and follow their blueprint
Inspiring. Beautiful confirmation that my Thrifting videos and tips are the future. God bless Round Two!
Im personally into the whole pink, girly vibe and everyone seems to be into this ugly skater person edgy look but he seems like a genuine guy and so kind. So props to him ❤️
Annie S yeah nah, everyone has their own style and you’re just plain basic. Just admit it lmao. Just the fact that you say “ugly skater look” you don’t
Know fashion at all. No one that skate dress like this. Smh
if you hate on sean than its your issue. you gotta like this dude. huge inspo for how i run my business
Awesome, thanks for sharing 🍀
Excellent job guys!
Yebo🦸that's that South African "friends" vlone t-shirt 🇿🇦
I feel like Sean’s beard is about to take over his whole face 😂
My mom was best friends with his mom and still is to this day. I know it’s just a phrase but he didn’t quite come from rags. Fun fact I played his game boy when I was like 7 at his house he seemed chill
Nice
If you ever stop in LA (or ny, mia, va) you have to visit these shops or just binge the shows. He’s the nicest, most humble with sick taste. And it’s so inspiring. I wish this same success for myself but like more girly things💕💕
“Dude, I am soooo hyped... what’s your IG?” 🤮
Yeah, he knows what works with his audience
Hes gonna post the picture of the shoes on his IG and shout out the kids IG
Yeah that made me so queasy... How can he sleep at night ripping off little kids like that who clearly see him as a God or something... 🤢
The dude takes the time to spend with his fans... that's pretty honourable.
Lol
going to goodwill now and looking for all music type shirts putting them in a box and selling them for a lot in 10 years
I watch this video from time to time as a sort of reminder of how far I need to go. This video was my jumpstart into vintage
This guy is awesome!! You can tell he loves what he does!!
$50 for that Madonna shirt? Insane. I resell and looking at this warehouse.. imagine a candy shop as a kid. Call it what you want but they’re having fun at the end of the day as well as making serious cash. If I lived in California I’d be there every week dropping $500+
Sneezymilk I bet they buy their clothes from donation centers who don't have room to put all of the clothes on the floor. I have no idea why anyone would pay extra for some old thrifted clothes 😂
James Franko it is! That’s worth $150+ good profit.
Kim D cause it’s a one out of one for the most part. people just love vintage clothes. Just like how you would buy new clothes.
Kim D they get there clothes from pallets by the pound, I’ve bought clothes by the ton before, I got a TON of clothes for 250 dollars. It cost mire to sort and go through it
You should go to Poland or other countries in Eastern Europe, they have thousands of these vintage secondhand clothing warehouses and stuff is like one dollar, even fur coats. Because people are poor there it’s a necessity rather than a fashion for rich kids.
The truth is this man is not just hustling, he is doing what a lot of businesses don’t think they have to do anymore. He is being personable and helpful and kind. I can’t keep count anymore on how many times I’ve just walked out of a store and decided to buy from amazon not because I didn’t have the money, but because I was treated like I was wasting people’s time if I wasn’t coming to y’all to them without cash in my hand.
This dude looks like the most down to earth and cool as dude to ever meet!.
That long sleeves you have on the thumb nail is so unique. One thing i like in thrift store is you can find fashionable outfits with unique designs.
My wife and I do the same thing with old furniture and it's going well.
Everybody is shopping more at thrift stores, because of the economy, vintage is the new cool!!
I love the environmental significance of initiatives like that. I would never buy things over there though, it takes away from the creative process of finding what you personnally like in a thrift store. And it costs way too much.
It's so weird to see stuff from when your a kid in the 90s and hear it's vintage now! Lol
He gives me Adam Levine vibes. Same LA douchiness...lol.
People who move to LA are the worst lol. I left my own damn city to get away from people like him.
People don’t understand that after a certain amount of time these T-shirt’s become a wearable canvas. These are art pieces from previous generations that are being found, yes they can be pricey but it’s not everyday you come across an original Metallica tour shirt from the 80s designed by Pushead. The wear and fade to these pieces give character and tell stories from the past and hold true sentimental value for others. These aren’t your ordinary shirts, these are pieces of history that need to be preserved.
Sean Wotherspoon is nothing short of brilliant.
I think this its great and you will have a unique piece that no one else has
To all the people saying Round Two is just an overpriced thrift store, it’s not. Trust me, to get the kind of inventory guys like him have you need to do a LOT of digging. Stores like his are successful because of people who don’t want to spend hours sifting through goodwills to go home with one or two items. Vintage stores are in the business of curating a collection.
yea there are lots of idiots in the comments thinking you can just waltz into any thift store anyday and immediately find multiple 80s/90s music tees or something similar lol. its not nearly that easy
ItsSoGiggity god no lol. Try showing up at your local goodwill outlet to sift through the bins for 8-12 hours at a time six days a week, and then tell me how these guys just run an overpriced goodwill.
Loving Sean's T-shirt, #RSA
what a great insight. great store and people
This is basically a larger scale of what everyone is trying to do on resale shops online now, depop being one, and mine is at Suza L , so check it out
Great story of how passion meets opportunity, I hope they are one of the vanguards to affect the apparel industry to go back to an appropriation model...H&M and Zara have made clothing too disposable!
This reminds me of something they do at Urban Outfitters that I learned about while working there. They have a brand called “Urban Renewal” and pretty much the company hires people to buy a bunch of vintage shit at places like this and sell it for a ridiculous price. Once I learned that the Urban renewal brand was overpriced used clothes I never purchased it again lol
I really love him and his demeanor, I love that he's having all of this success Bravo, kudos to him for helping the planet by recycling clothes/ shoes and making a ton of money in the process. 😍
:35 that shirt is actually 🔥 I love patch work 💯🙌🏽
B. Couture Vibes Nyc Fredo Santana has a picture in it, one of my favorite pics of him, crazy to see the flannel on here, random cool. I need to know the name of it
3:15 sean caught himself lol nice save tho you could see the dollar signs in his eyes
Monopoly 😅
How do you gentrify thrifted clothes? 😂
Is not gentrification
YAMI_TV yo you killed me with that one💀
everything gets gentrified in life
*Yeah because no white people would buy a Madonna tshirt before this store opened. Dumbass...*
Wasn’t expecting that $20 million. Sean’s been killing the game and Vintage is only expanding
I love sean he’s finally making a change in the game
So there customer base is just hypebeast's and hipster's?
their. stay in school
For the most part it's actually people old enough to have authentic memory's / connections with these pieces. Maybe it's something they had as a child / teenager growing up and it was lost or stolen, maybe it was something they always wanted but could never afford. The Hypebeast/Hipster aspect is definitely a huge part of their business but it's not the only part.
Kids
People who don't wanna be seen in a local thrift store.
Douchey
Thanks for the knowledge, I will use it to get closer to my first million.
Best show on CZcams
So dope very inspirational
YOOO SEAN MADE IT ON VICE
These prices make me laugh!
I find my own vintage clothing, these people that buy from them don’t like doing the dirty work lol
The thrift stores in my area have a lot of old t-shirt like those, mostly untapped as people around here just wouldn't pay for used stuff to much. Just the other day I saw some old Run DMC tees ect..... Going back to grab them and will be listing soon
When Hustle meets Hype. Can’t knock it #Salute