Our Story
The Beginning
The business was founded in humble beginnings in the North West in 1983. At this time, owner Richard Free would spend his week gathering stock by hunting at flea markets and church sales, travelling down to London each weekend to sell the clothing at Camden and Greenwich markets.
In1985 the first permanent shop was opened in Affleck's Palace in Manchester, which was, and still is, a mecca for small independent businesses and alternative fashion and culture. The first shop in Affleck's Palace is still thereat the original site today, and was joined in 1989 by the first Liverpool shop on Slater street. The Liverpool shop has had a few locations over the years but has found its home on Bold street in the thriving Rope walks district since 2014.
The 90's
The business slowly expanded and in 1991 we were approached by Topshop to become the first company to sell vintage clothing in their flagship store in Oxford Circus. By this time, we were importing vintage from the USA and all over Europe and exporting to clients around the globe. The expansion of the business and the success allowed us to open another shop in Manchester in the basement of Café pop on Oldham street in 1994. The store eventually expanded and took over the top floor as well as the basement and is the store you see today, which sells a mix of clothing, accessories and some vintage furniture and décor pieces, reflecting the owner’s passion for collecting all things vintage, not just clothing.
In 1997 Pop Boutique Monmouth street was opened in London’s Seven dials area and was a huge success! The stop stayed at that location for 18 years, before moving to its current location just around the corner in Shorts Gardens, Covent Garden, where it can be found today.
Following the expansion and success of the first few Pop Boutique stores, as well as the wholesale business, we began to create a new line of clothing to sit alongside our carefully selected vintage pieces and keep up with the demand for certain items. The first Pop Boutique collection began with cord and denim flares and went on to sell out many times over. This line has since expanded to a twice a year 20-30 piece collection to fill the gaps in demand of the vintage clothing.
In our first pop boutique not only did we sell clothing, but vintage furniture and all manner of vintage objects of desire.
The shop was not an instant success but gathered a following from a band of loyal customers.
The 2000s
Our Leeds store was the next to open in 2008 and can still be found at the same location today. Tucked away in Central road near the Corn exchange and other independent and vintage shops, it has found a thriving alternative and student market.
The following year the Leeds shop was followed by a larger move into a different market: Sweden. We had always had success selling in the Swedish market so when the opportunity arose to open the Gothenburg location, we took it! The Gothenburg shop is located in the beautiful Maginsgatan area opposite a square hosting many wonderful food trucks and fellow independent businesses. Following the success of the Gothenburg shop in 2017 we opened the Malmo location in Davidshallsgatan which has been growing and flourishing since, with a large student population discovering and loving vintage clothing.
