‘It’s something really special’: VintageSoulGeek resurrects pieces of Hamilton’s retail history

For Connie Bulajic, speaking things into existence might actually work.

While driving down Barton Street earlier this summer with husband Nik and scanning some of the vacant storefronts, a thought came to her head.

She's like Nik, I know one of these shops has a bunch of stuff from yesteryear that is just sitting there, and I want it,'" said Nik. And I look at her and think, OK, Connie.'"

Just a week later, the couple - who own Hamilton's VintageSoulGeek - got a call out of the blue.

It was a man looking to sell off the contents of a Barton Street clothing store that was open from the 1930s until the 1960s, said Connie.

All of it was dead stock, also known as dead inventory or obsolete inventory, which refers to merchandise that still has the tags on and was never sold.

It seemed like fate, so the pair decided to take the man up on an offer to come check out the lot.

We had no idea what would come of it," said Connie. But I walked into the garage and there were probably a thousand boxes, it was just boxes, and boxes, and boxes ... all stacked up."

After peering into just a handful of the packages, they knew they'd stumbled upon something special, said Connie.

Inside the boxes, priced and donning original labels, were thousands of pieces of unworn women's and children's clothing.

There were stockings and bras that had never seen the light of day, blouses that never made it to the rack and bathing suits that never left their original boxes. Boxes of children's cardigans and gloves were aged, but undisturbed - going untouched for decades.

Other pieces included bullet bras from the 1950s, women's blouses, knitted sweaters and even a swimsuit that had padding similar to a life-jacket that caused the woman wearing it to float.

The brands varied but included Stanfield's Ltd., Catalina Swimwear, Gotham Gold Stripe, Miss Swank and Tailor Made - many of which no longer exist.

I've been buying for 10 years and I've never had anything like this," said Connie.

The history behind the clothing isn't totally clear, said Nik. But they know they came from James Golownitsky Dry Goods, once located at 667 Barton St. E., between Sherman Avenue North and Earl Street, as per original shipping labels.

The entire contents were stored at a home that belonged to a relative of the seller and had been mostly locked away since the '80s.

Some boxes had minor water damage, said Connie. But nearly all of the pieces are wearable and will see new life on the racks inside their King Street East shop.

The first batch will be part of the store's fall collection, set to be released after Labour Day, said Nik.

These things have been laying in wait for so long," he said. And soon, these things are going to go out dancing again, they're going to go out and have dates again. It's something really special."

Connie said the thrill of sourcing vintage could be described as a treasure hunt," but their love goes beyond the clothing itself.

She said it's also about saving the history," and in this case, that of Hamilton's retail past.

We're just so happy that we can preserve a bit of history," added Nik. These lovely items should be able to live a long life instead of entering some landfill."

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com