This story originally appeared in the March 24 edition of the weekly LINK Reader. To see these stories first, subscribe here.
At almost 23 years old, recent college grads, roommates, and BFFs Caden Adams and Kayla Braden have accomplished what most early 20-somethings haven’t — they own a small business.
In 2022, they opened Peachy and Vintage at Renaissance Covington’s Pike Street Pop-Up space. They stayed for six months, and on Oct. 28, they had their grand opening in their much larger 2,500-square-foot space at 531 Madison Ave.
Vintage, or new vintage, includes apparel and accessories more than 20 years old, but Peachy buys and sells goods from all decades.
At Northern Kentucky University, Adams minored in entrepreneurship and Braden majored in technical theater and carpentry. Earlier on during the pandemic, they began selling vintage clothes on the website Depop, which is similar to eBay but with a focus on vintage clothing. They came up with the name Peachy and Vintage as homage to 1970s Just Peachy graphics.
“Before we opened Pike Street, we started doing markets and kind of got our name out there,” Adams said. “And that’s when we realized that our customers wanted to have a place to try stuff on in a permanent location instead of just shopping online.”
They didn’t want to apply for business loans — they already had student loan debt — so they entered the Kentucky Pitch competition at NKU and won $7,000. The duo went through a three-month NKU incubator program and learned more about running a business, like how to develop a business model. They’re a part of NKU’s women entrepreneurial group, and Covington’s Small Business Incentive Program helps with their rent.
Brick-and-mortar retail is having a comeback moment in 2023, both in Covington and beyond.
According to Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette, “60% of the U.S. brick-and-mortar retail is conducted outside malls.”
Occupancy rates have increased in malls as well, though, with Simon Property Group, the largest mall owner in the U.S., reporting a near 95% occupancy rate for 2022.
At the same time Peachy and Vintage was staking its claim on Pike Street, another women-owned business, Pink Moon, opened less than a block away at 621 Madison Ave.; their other location is at Newport on the Levee.
Pink Moon sells crystals, Tarot cards, horror movie apparel and lingerie. They also host Tarot readings and events, like a recent live podcast with Coven of Screams.
Last year, Pink Moon co-owner Holly Nicole told LINK nky she feels in-person retail will always have an appeal that online shopping can’t replicate.
“I feel that in the fashion end here, there isn’t as much,” she said. “You can’t walk into a store in the mall and pick out something that you see on TV or the internet and things like that. I know that online shopping is so big, but we do still love to go in and see something and touch it.”
Braden noted shopping for apparel at a mall usually means supporting the “fast fashion” industry – a term that refers to mass-manufactured clothing that is traded in for the next trend and often ends up in landfills.
“Sustainability in the fast fashion industry is something that we’ve learned a lot about and its impacts socially on the people making the clothes in the environment,” Braden said. “I think being more connected with our customers also helps us to really tell them they’re keeping clothing out of the landfill. Vintage clothing used to be made so much better than clothing now, so it’s actually made to last and not just be worn a couple times and thrown away.”
Braden emphasized how garment workers in developing nations like Bangladesh make less than a dollar a day and work in unsafe conditions. Many companies in fast fashion greenwash, or say they’re practicing sustainability but are actually polluting the environment, she said.
“It’s really nice for people to put their hands on the clothing and actually feel the difference between fast fashion,” Braden said.
On a regular basis Peachy throws events, like the monthly Sip and Thrift, in which customers can drink free wine and get a discount on merchandise. In February, they threw a Galentine’s Day party with Pink Moon and other women-owned businesses.
“We really wanted to be a space where people could come together,” Braden said. “We’re really passionate about helping other small businesses, which is why we have a lot of consignment artists. They’re people who don’t have time to own their own store and to set up markets, but they have their pieces in here. We are able to send them money when their stuff sells,”
Both Pink Moon and Peachy bring their millennial and Gen Z vibes to the storefronts. They’re both active on Instagram, and Peachy has an Instagrammable backdrop with a ring light, which they use to photograph their wares, but also use for events. Peachy has a classic look, but it’s not your traditional vintage store. Plus, it’s the only one located in Covington’s central business district.
In May, they’re hosting a fashion show at Madison Live and it may be their biggest event yet.
Despite having so much immediate success, sometimes people don’t take them seriously because of their age.
“People assume we don’t know what we’re doing, or we’re not doing things right,” Braden said. “But I also think there’s a lot of great people. We had a customer who was like, ‘I don’t know you, but I’m so proud of you.’”
Braden’s dad owns a business, which inspired her to start Peachy. He designed their logo and van, and put together the clothing racks. However, Adams’s grandfather and father haven’t quite been as supportive.
“They wanted me to take a more traditional career path,” Adams said. “I think a lot of it is the fact that I am a woman and they weren’t really confident in my abilities or our abilities, but I feel like we’ve been proving them wrong.”
The pair said being a women-owned business has its challenges, but women have to stick together.
“There are people who definitely treat us differently because we are women,” Adams said. “Older men come in and they ask us questions and want to give us their advice, which we appreciate, but we can feel the difference. If we were two men, we would not be treated the same way.”
“I love to see the growth of women-owned businesses, and I think that we’ve gotten a lot of support for being women owned,” Braden added.
“We like to label ourselves as a women’s business, and we like to tell everybody because I do think it is an empowering statement,” Nicole said.
Peachy’s five-year plan includes maybe owning a storefront or having a warehouse space for inventory. They’d like to have a direct-to-garment printer, and they’re getting into embroidery. They want to be more event-focused, hire employees, and travel to source items.
“We like being a part of the community, personally, and Covington’s up and coming,” Adams said. “There’s a million reasons that people should come to Covington, and we love that we are one-of-a-kind here.”