Food trucks pave the way for clothing retailers on wheels

Food trucks were just the beginning. Mobile retailers are now arriving in
the
Northwest.

Hair salons on wheels. Flower shops in retrofitted delivery trucks.
Homemade school supplies delivered in a tricked-out bus. And yes,
fashion trucks.

The idea took root in New York and Los Angeles. And it’s expanded to San
Francisco and Portland.

Now, they’re in Seattle.

Kippy Ding Ding
made its debut at the Fremont Art Walk last Friday. “Kippy” is vintage
fashion boutique that masquerades as a 1965 Aristocrat trailer. It’s the
brain-child of new friends Amanda Linton and Allison Norris of Seattle,
who recently met at a coffee shop for moms.

“We’re not just stay at home moms,” Linton told MyNorthwest.com while
setting up for the debut. “We’re always into something, and this was just
an easy way where we could make our own hours and work on the
weekends and work around our kids’ schedules.”

“Nap schedules,” Norris added.

These young moms really like the business model. No rent to pay. Little
overhead. Selling what they love wearing and hitting all the festivals and
gatherings in Seattle.

“We had this idea that we’d be begging people to come and like ‘we’re
open over here,'” Norris joked. “It’s been really fun. This community is
definitely really supportive, and people around here do love vintage and
that style.”

Linton and Norris went with a trailer because it’s not too big, and
Allison’s dad already had one.

Rosie Itti went for the truck, a 2011 Chevy, and even at $500 a month,
it’s still cheaper than renting space for a shop. The 24-year-old from
Port Townsend is launching Closet Space
at the end of the month. She’ll be selling new clothes from local and
international designers.

“I want to share what I love,” Itti told MyNorthwest.com outside her
family’s Thai restaurant in Port Townsend where the truck is being
prepped for its debut. “That’s why ‘Closet Space,’ the inside, really
doesn’t have a distinct theme. It’s just my interests. It’s my own walk-in
closet on wheels.”

Itti studied fashion in school. She had fashion internships and jobs in
New York City. Her plan is to start in Port Townsend with occasional
trips to Seattle and then branch out to college towns and other places.

She expects you’ll see a lot more businesses like these popping up.
“I just think it will probably eventually reach the food truck craze,” she
said. “It’s definitely on its way.”

But you’d better be crafty with social media to find your favorite mobile
retailer. You’ll need to be Facebook and Twitter literate to find out
where they’re set-up.

Right now, these trucks can only be parked on private property in
many cities like Seattle. They can’t take up parking spaces. Only food
trucks are allowed to do that, and that’s okay with Linton, Norris, and
“Kippy.”

“We can just find different partnerships in parking lots around the city so
we can kind of expand and kind of take-over the parking lot,” Norris said.

So where are the changing rooms? “Kippy” has a small space in the
back where you can duck behind a curtain. Itti plans to put a pop-up
changing room outside her van.

What are the long-term plans for these two mobile retail pioneers?
Linton and Norris joke they want a fleet of these trucks in ten year, and
they have plans for other mobile vendors, though I promised not to
publish their ideas. Itti hopes to be successful enough to employ people
to run her mobile fashion truck. That will clear her schedule to do what
she really loves, and that is travel the world looking for new designers
and clothes to sell.