Word of Mouth... H-Town Rags

Housed side by side with customer-favourite coffee shop Wakelin's & Son and coworking space Shared Space, H-Town Rags almost bursts at the seams with its handpicked offering of vintage, pre-loved and thrifted clothing. Teeming with all kinds of vintage brands and unique pieces, they also stock an impressive vinyl collection and are home to a quirky photobooth.

Shout or Whisper sat down with Charlotte, who runs the shop with her partner Rob, for a cuppa in Wakelin's & Son next door- to find out about the store and the folks behind it.

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Rob & Charlotte, owners and runners of H-Town Rags.

Let’s start with- what is H-Town Rags, and how did it get started, and what do you guys do?

H-Town Rags is a vintage clothing shop- well, vintage and second-hand clothing, because we do have some slightly more current pieces that are just really nice quality, or unique. The business was started by my partner Rob ten years ago now, so it’s actually our tenth anniversary year- so we are sorting out a few things for that, at the minute.

Rob initially started it just behind The George pub on Bucklersbury, in kind of like a converted barn there. So he’s worked with second-hand and vintage clothing for a long time, in and out of the music industry and doing different things, but prior to opening Rags he was selling on eBay, which were the better days for eBay… then started selling in the shop. Then about a year following that, we started going out actually. I was working in London in luxury fashion, luxury retail, and then for a few years I was just sort of helping out on my days off.

He was doing predominantly menswear with like a focus on a lot of like denim, military… a mix of other things, really. And then I introduced a bit of womenswear to see how it would go- which was a real learning curve for me, because that’s something new to do, was to like pick the stock. And I learnt very quickly not to just choose stock that I liked, and I needed to choose things that would sell and that a wider variety of people would like.

And then about seven years ago I left my job, it would have been about three years into Rags’ existence- I left my job in London and started working with Rob. We had that shop for about a year and then we managed to open up in the Carling Building- which is where we are now!

We predominantly hand-pick our stock from wholesale suppliers. So there’s a lot of kind of like middle-men in the UK that import stock from the US or Europe, and then we go and hand-pick at their warehouses. For example you’ll have like a huge bay of Levi’s denim jackets, and we’ll pick through every piece to check its quality, condition, style… Just whether it’s, you know, what we want in the shop.

Some places we can’t purchase like that anymore, the industry has changed a bit and most suppliers are controlling it a lot more. So they might pre-prepare a bag of twenty Levi’s denim jackets, and you have to buy that bag- so within that there’ll be some that are better quality, some that aren’t quite as good, so you’re kind of made to buy more of a mix.

And presumably you can’t shift that? Or it’s not what you would like to be representing?

Usually it’s okay, but yeah, a lot of the stuff wouldn’t be what we hand-picked. And obviously now it’s becoming more challenging because of the rise of fast fashion, you find those things are slipping into the grades, more and more, that we’re going through. So that is, like, a challenge of the last few years really.

Things are going through the system so quickly- so we’ll find like Shein items, and Primark, and all the rest of it. It’s really important that we’re being really careful to ensure that we’re sifting those things out.

we want to represent selling quality clothing at a reasonable price, an affordable price, and also to curate it in such a way that it encourages people to shop second-hand

With fast fashion and consumer culture, things like that, how important is the ethos of vintage, sustainability, re-use and so on to the shop?

It’s definitely important. I think for us the core fact is that we want to represent selling quality clothing at a reasonable price, an affordable price, and also to curate it in such a way that it encourages people to shop second-hand. We’re finding those more trend-led items to give them the option to shop vintage and second-hand.

So that’s why we try and display it like we do- as smart as possible, on matching hangers, a lot of colour coordination… so that it’s still, you know, matching (to a point) say like a high street or more luxurious experience. Whereas a lot of other vintage shops, in London especially- or there’s certain, bigger vintage shops, brands that people will know- that are quite chaotic… Bit more jumble sale vibes.

Still can find loads of great stuff, but we’ve sort of found that by displaying it in a more organised way it’s definitely more, what’s the word? More relevant to more people…

Relatable?

Relatable. So, it is more relatable- for example if it’s someone’s first time shopping vintage and second-hand, it’s more palatable I guess. They don’t walk in in such shock at where do they even start. It’s still quite overwhelming, we have so much stuff, but hopefully- we do our best to make it as relatable to everybody as possible.

So, being in The Carling Building now, what was it that attracted you to move over to here?

Erm… Space. The barn behind The George was really tiny, and we were… we knew James, over here [owner of Wakelin & Son] and the shop that was in the back bit was going to be going.

James, he sort of kept us up to date. And we loved the idea of it being more, like, a community space as well- there’s James here with Wakelin & Son, and then you’ve Shared Space in to the right of where you walk in to us. So it’s a nice little community area. It was a very good opportunity. It’s been great, it’s been really, really good.

Signage at the Carling Building, designed to "draw people up here, because we are tucked out of the way".

And then- was it some time last year that Our Favourite Shop sort of joined with you?

Yes… So it will have been in… April of 2021, we opened Our Favourite Shop-

So it was all you? I see!

Yeah, April 2021 we opened Our Favourite Shop around the corner. Our Favourite Shop actually existed before, in the nineties, when Rob had a shop on Bucklersbury as well, kind of down where like Pebble Spa is now. He had a shop, and named it Our Favourite Shop after the Style Council album, Paul Weller’s band. And it was open for a few years on Bucklersbury.

So we decided to use the same name, and it was actually really lovely because a lot of people that were in their teenage years in the nineties at that time saw the name round the corner and would pop and be like “Is this the Our Favourite Shop?” And I’d be like, “Yes!”

The sign from Our Favourite Shop's second incarnation in The Arcade, pre-loved and in pride of place at the doors of H-Town Rags.

So that was really lovely. We opened that to be more true vintage and Americana pieces, along with records as well. We had the lease there for three years, which was really great- no regrets, really enjoyed doing it. We can some new and kind of different customers from doing that as well, which was really lovely. I think for some of the customers that prefer a more curated space it worked really nicely, as well, especially people who are just into that kind of stuff.

He had a shop, and named it Our Favourite Shop after the Style Council album, Paul Weller’s band

So yeah, really good three years, but then we were still in… I don’t know what you’d call it, the honeymoon period from Covid where the town centre was booming, which was really amazing. A lot of people were working from home so we had a lot of people coming in on their lunch breaks, town was a lot busier- and then towards two years it became a bit more challenging, as people were returning to work and the economy was changing. So when we got towards the end of the lease we decided to kind of bring everything back here into Rags. It works nicely now- and it’s a lot kind of, more… easy, for Rob and I. Which is good.

We also have a shop in Nottingham, a separate business called Wild Clothing. The shop has been there for forty-two years. It was about to shut down, so we took it on in August ’23. Rob has had a connection with that shop since the nineties because he would buy wholesale from the guy that owned that shop for his original Our Favourite Shop. As things were going well and we were expanding we saw that opportunity and we didn’t want that shop to close, so we took it on.

I think it’s the oldest vintage shop in situ in the country. There might be one that’s older, but it’s moved location, whereas that shop’s been there since 1983, in that same location.

You were talking about setting up the women’s line, and how you source that- could you expand on how you pick these pieces that a little bit?

Yeah- so when I started doing the womenswear in the barn, it was mostly American womenswear. There were some really cool pieces in there, but it was harder to find things that were a bit more suitable for what was trending at the time (and is now), so we looked further afield. We found a really great Italian supplier, so I went out there a few times- once with Rob, then a couple of times with a few of the girls that worked here at the time as well, to hand pick pieces from that supplier there. Which was really cool- good experience, good fun. The pieces we get from there are gorgeous- the style is lovely, the quality is amazing. The Italians are known for their style and quality for sure, and some really, like, unique, interesting pieces as well. It’s really unique to us that we get a lot of those pieces which helps us stand out over some of the other vintage shops.

Now mostly I do it over videocall, it’s not that necessary to go there- even though the excuse is nice, sometimes!- they just hold each item up and I’ll say “Si!” or “No!”, my Italian is flying. We still buy from there, it’s definitely become a staple part of the shop.

We also get some menswear from the US as well, we get American deliveries from a supplier we have out there- that is more by weight, rather than… we don’t do it over videocall or anything. But again it just brings a different kind of style and mix. We try to keep things as varied as possible- we always try to have something for everyone, no matter what age or gender or anything, really try and keep it as mixed up as possible.

You’ve touched on this a little bit- you and Rob, perhaps Rob in particular, have been running shops around here for a while- have you seen town change while you’ve been doing it? If so, how?

I think… Well, when I started helping Rob, I’d say probably from the ten years ago- he was new in the barn there, so business was slowly increasing as more people got to know he was there. That sort of continued, and then when we moved over to here, again it was really trying to market it to draw people up here, because we are tucked out of the way. I think it was only… I think, we moved in in September 2019 and then obviously in March 2020 was when Covid hit and we all had to shut down.

That obviously was quite challenging, but by that point we had built up a reasonable Instagram following, I would say. Not huge, but it was all people who did come in the shop- so it was good, I don’t what you’d call it, like quality following? Without sounding… like it doesn’t sound very nice. We did our best to do online sales through Instagram- we have a collection point at the doors there. We just did everything we could, really.

I think also, because a lot of people were at home and spending more time on their phones we gained more of a following as well. We became a bit more well known, so that by the time actually we did reopen, we were super busy. I think everybody was so excited to get out, come into town, physically shop, see their friends and do it together, come out with their families and everything. It was really lovely. From the point we were super busy, and word had spread a lot as well. So whilst it was a really challenging time, while we were closed, I do think that it kind of helped us, in a way.

 we get people from North London, Luton, Bedford, Biggleswade, Stevenage all coming into town because there’s nothing like the shops here where they live

Then on from there, we’ve just sort of continued to get busier and busier- thus opening Our Favourite Shop round the corner. Probably in 2023 I think things started to decline a little bit again- like, people returning back to the office, you can tell town was a lot of quieter. It definitely became more challenging- and speaking to other friends who have businesses in town, or, even all over the country, people were definitely struggling a lot more. Especially for our industry, as well- Vinted has gone crazy. Which is obviously amazing, it’s important to us that people are shopping second hand and finding those alternatives, so it is really positive- it’s just been more challenging for vintage shops sort of competing with that.

Even though you don’t want to feel like you’re competing, but definitely we hear a lot of people saying, in the shop, like “oh, I’m just going to look on Vinted”.

It’s sort of a balance, of, like, helping people understand that we are a small business, and I suppose if we were just selling from home it would be a lot cheaper.

With sort of a ‘living in Hitchin’ hat on, have you seen Hitchin or the local area change much?

I’d definitely say that town is quieter, in general. Obviously we’ve seen some… quite a few shops shut over time. Hitchin still has a very low rate of vacancy, because we do have an amazing community- so most businesses that come here are very supported, and people from further afield look to come to Hitchin because sadly a lot of other towns and high streets are dying out yet here whilst it is challenging it is fairly strong. So people do come here from surrounding towns to visit for the day.

I think especially for vintage and second-hand, we’ve got- obviously we’re here, there’s Jolly Brown- great vintage shop, you’ve got the Lifestyle Emporium and Fleetville Emporium down by the markets, and obviously loads of charity shops, so Hitchin is quite well known for second-hand now which is positive because we get people from North London, Luton, Bedford, Biggleswade, Stevenage all coming into town because there’s nothing like the shops here where they live. Which is really positive.

The Carling Building houses several other local businesses as well as H-Town Rags.

If you could cast your mind forward, and had powers of premonition, in the next five/ ten years how would you say town changing, do you think?

I feel like there’ll be a lot more residential spaces. I know that they’re looking to turn Poundland and M&CO, those huge units on the high street, the back of them into something crazy, I remember thinking wow, that’s a lot of flats. More service based, I should imagine, and more residential- that’s what I would say. But I do think the experience and community aspect for us is so important, because that’s what makes us unique. It’s been really amazing over the last- well, ten years for Rob, seven for me- to become a real part of this community.

People are so supportive- they come in with their friends, they come in with their family, and it’s more of an experience. We’ve got the photobooth, so we got loads of schoolkids coming in to use that which is really fun. Even if they’re just coming in to meet up and have fun trying on sunglasses, or this is their meeting point, they’ll have a quick browse and then go get a coffee or something, it’s really nice to be that location in town.

We have such an amazing team that works with us as well- customer service is so, so important to us because we want everybody that walks through that door to get a nice greeting, to feel welcome, and to feel comfortable. I think it’s a bit of a lonely world out there sometimes, and you never know when you could be making someone’s day as well. And it’s just a nice way to live anyway.

Again, you’ve touched on this a little bit and just picking up on that- with it being five years since the first lockdown this year, you’ve mentioned how it affected the business, how did you find that it affected you personally and the community at large? How did it feel round here?

For me personally, definitely its more challenging moments were in terms of business, because obviously nobody had any idea what was happening, if we would get any help- if anyone would survive, in terms of business. I think for me I always just like, trusted that it was going to be fine. That’s definitely more my outlook in life- because everybody was in the same position, so you just think “well, everybody in the whole country isn’t going to go out of business so we just trust that it’s going to be okay, we’ll figure it out”. So for me I kind of like gave up that stress a bit, just like “It will work out”.

Obviously still there was moments where you kind of worry, but still, definitely trust in the process with that one. Me, personally… It definitely- worries aside in terms of people’s health and concern for friends and family, that everyone was okay- but in terms of the time it gave us, it was sort of like an opportunity, in a very fortunate position, to have time that we never would have had. Usually we’re very busy running the business and stuff, so Rob and I sort of made a decision at the start- “we’re either going to watch TV and drink booze and whatever, or we can do something positive with our time, eat well, have time to cook, exercise, all those kind of things.”

So for us actually I would say it was quite positive, in terms of health. I think I really learnt more how to cook during that time- and now that’s just something I love doing, and make sure I have time to do. I really was able to get into a routine of like, working out, walking and things which I never had before, and those habits have lasted which is really good. I think- it just allowed me a lot of time to learn more about myself, and look after myself really, which was very positive I suppose- but I do feel very fortunate that I was in a position where I could do that. I kind of feel- I don’t know, bad saying that- because I know it was so difficult for so many people.

we really want it to be a place where everybody feels welcome and can find something, they can come in and just get a smile

And touching on that, last question- just generally, what do you guys do to unwind and enjoy yourselves, keep yourselves well? Is there anything local you do that you want to shout about?

So Rob has been in a band called Smash since the… I don’t know when it started… nineties.

[Charlotte pops next door to ask double check this]

Approximately 1983- so way before I realised! So, he’s from Welwyn Garden City, the band started in 1983 and, yeah they did quite well. They were on Top of the Pops. They had a break at some point, but they still play together now- he’s got a gig coming up at Club 85 on 19th of April, they’ve just played in Camden. They probably do four or five gigs a year. And he’s quite involved in the local music scene- we used to host a record fair up by Our Favourite Shop. Since we let go of the shop, someone else has taken it on and they did it at the Highlander. Rob DJ’d there and had a stall.

We also, mostly Rob- but me too sometimes- DJ at the Hitchin Street Food monthly events, and then we DJ at The Vic sometimes as well. It’ll either be Rob with someone else or me and him. So we love music.

Drumming- he has his electric drumkit at home which he plays all the time. And for me… what do I like doing?

Cooking- love cooking. I love playing tennis- which, unfortunately, because of Wild I haven’t had the chance to do that much at the minute. Spending time with friends and family… I don’t know what else, I’m trying to think what I even do! Reading, I love to read…

I do think the community aspect of things is so important to us- like, we really want it to be a place where everybody feels welcome and can find something, they can come in and just get a smile and have a nice conversation.

In terms of the future for Hitchin, our vision is that we will definitely still be here as well. I think we always have to adapt to find different ways, there’s no one place that we can rely on for our stock so we’re constantly having to look different places and stuff. Which is challenging, but also what keeps it interesting- and you never know what we’ll find.

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You can keep up with what's happening at H-Town Rags here.