A new local business brings vintage clothing and community to DeKalb.
SommsVintage will have its grand opening from noon to 7 p.m. Oct. 31 at 866 W. Lincoln Highway. Founded by co-owners Jordan Sommers and Adam Sexton, this shop offers a variety of true-vintage clothing, band tees, sports wear and much more. They also have a designated $5 to $10 rack for more affordable options.
“There’s aspects of clothing that he (Sommers) really likes, and like, it’s very drastically different from what I like. So, like, we both bring a good curation of plenty of different styles,” Sexton said.
While this is their first in-person store, Sexton has worked in the vintage clothing industry and sold wholesale clothing to other vintage stores for around six years. Sommers began SommsVintage out of his garage but decided it was time for an upgrade!
“I’ve always had a passion for vintage clothing, and so I kind of decided to hop back on the horse about a year ago, been consistent with it every single day ever since,” Sommers said. “I sold online for that time, and that’s kind of what led to me being able to purchase this store.”
Sommers and Sexton don’t want SommsVintage to be just a store, but also a place NIU students can hang out at and do homework. They will even have a designated room inside the store for anyone to relax in.
“I want people to feel like they can come in here, chill out, vibe a little bit,” Sommers said. “It doesn’t have to be, like, you come in here and drop $100 every time, or even anything. You can just come in and say what’s up.”
SommsVintage also offers a buy, sell, trade program.
“We do buy, sell, trade. So if you guys have stuff that you want to bring in, you can get store credit, we can give you money, you can trade it for something in store,” Sexton said. “Don’t be afraid to bring your stuff in because we, most likely, if we like it, we’ll take it.”
SommsVintage expects opening day to go well as excitement for the brand’s debut builds.
“We’re already getting DMs (direct messages online) and people asking us like ‘can I get this crewneck, can I come early,’” Sommers said. “Like people are just ready to bust through the door. We’re ready to open them too.”
After opening day, SommsVintage will be open from noon to 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays. They will be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.
