Jenna Moser-Cohen is the owner of Moon Child Vintage, which moved from Centennial Shopping Center to Main Street in Springfield in June. ALIYA HALL/THE CHRONICLE
SPRINGFIELD – Jenna Moser-Cohen has always been interested in fashion. Growing up on the East Coast, she studied fashion design and merchandising before going on to work at a fashion company; while she enjoyed her time there, she realized that wasn’t what she wanted to be doing.
Instead, she followed in her parents’ footsteps – in vintage shoes.
Moser-Cohen’s parents owned an antiques store when she was growing up and she had experience going to estate sales and finding potential pieces.
”I married the two things together,” she said. ”I always wanted a shop. I moved out here two years ago and it all came together.”
Her creation, Moon Child Vintage, moved in June from its location at Centennial Shopping Center, where it had been since opening its doors in March 2018. She said she wanted to get more foot traffic and had her eye on Main Street.
”I felt like it was a great fit,” she said, ”especially with all the vintage malls. People go here to look for it.”
Although resale is big in Oregon, Moser-Cohen said she noticed a lack of curated vintage shops, and she thought her specialization might bring something different to the vintage game. She started to grow demand for her ’50s- through ’90s-style denim and graphic tees.
”Specializing in those areas helps and I got my big following,” she said. ”Those are my bestsellers that I look for. Vintage shirts are popular with the (University of Oregon) college students and they’re really trendy now.”
Moser-Cohen is working on branching out to more dresses and bohemian items, as well as building a men’s section. ”Vintage” is considered anything that is over 20 years old, and she said she looks for items that are special, unique and stand out.
”People are already going in looking for something eye-catching and different, and want that,” she explained.
She added that she does carry some basic items because she wants to have something for everyone, but she finds that the more fun a pattern or shape is, the better it sells. For example, graphic T-shirts, animals or funny slogans and designs tend to go fast.
Moser-Cohen finds around 70% of the items in the shop herself through estate sales and bin diving, and the other 30% are items people have brought in to her. She said she buys by appointment only, but as she’s gotten busier it’s been helpful to have people come to her. That said, she doesn’t want to buy too much from sellers because she loves to search for things herself.
”Going out and finding stuff that I’m excited about and having it work in the store is definitely very exciting and rewarding,” she said. ”Money isn’t wasted and the vision that I have is what the customer wants, which is awesome.”
She said the biggest challenge is bringing in new products consistently so there’s always something new for returning customers or something exciting for new customers. She said that some people enjoy just coming in and looking around, but she wants to make sure people can find something to purchase every once in a while too.
”Having more exposure (is great), and things that weren’t working at the other location are working here, like dresses and things I love and knew would do well,” she said. ”In the location I had, people weren’t stumbling onto me, people were coming for a specific purpose. Down here, people are appreciating the other things I have.”
Going forward, Moser-Cohen wants to make Moon Child Vintage available to shop online, with shipping throughout the U.S. She wants to continue to grow and expand, and her hope is to next year join more markets as well.
”Being down here is amazing, but trying to reach out and make more customers is always the goal,” she said. ”I want to bring vintage to other areas.”
