MANSFIELD — Joe James and Rodney Zellner are expanding their retro boutique business three months into operation.
“We’re grateful to our customers for supporting us so far and excited to give them more of what they say they want to buy from us,” Uncommon Nostalgia co-owner Zellner said.
The brothers opened the shop in June, specializing in ’80s, ’90s and 2000s nostalgia, hoping to help customers “relive their childhood.”
Uncommon Nostalgia is located at 34 W. 4th St. and plans to expand into The Boot Life’s former space at 36 W. 4th St. this fall.
“To be honest, it’s expanded past my initial vision of what it was going to be, but I’m really excited that we’re growing to support the community,” Zellner said.
Zellner told James he was interested in starting a vintage boutique after his brother asked Facebook friends what they wanted to bring to Mansfield.
James said he is excited to offer more services to customers, including a gaming lounge and console repair services.
“No one else in the area really advertises repair services for consoles and DVDs, so we’re looking forward to starting that,” he said.
Uncommon Nostalgia’s gaming lounge will have three TVs and options to play Nintendo, Wii, Atari, PlayStation or Xbox with preloaded games. It will also host arcade and pinball machines.
The owners said they plan to offer a daily or hourly rate for the gaming lounge for individuals and small groups.
“We also ordered a pizza warmer, so we can offer Two Cousins and have a popcorn machine in here,” Zellner said. “And if someone wants to bring in their own console, we can hook it up for them.”
Lounge will include vintage decor & plenty of seating
The store plans to start selling packaged retro candy, freeze-dried candy and drinks.
“I would also love to collaborate more with our local businesses, sell coffee, tea or non-alcoholic beer,” James said. “I’m really excited to offer our customers more services, and give them room to lounge and hang out.”
Though the expansion will triple the shops’ space, the owners know the space will fill quickly.
“It will give us more space, which we clearly need,” Zellner said, gesturing to rows of clothing and gaming consoles. “We put out a survey a few weeks ago, and people are definitely interested in a gaming lounge, so we’ll give it a shot and see what happens.”
Zellner said the store has started carrying a few games newer than 20 years old.
“Some of our customers were asking about that because they prefer coming here rather than the national chains,” he said.
James said he is also interested in starting a gaming league or hosting tournaments. He said Uncommon Nostalgia’s most popular inventory so far has been clothing, hats and video games. The store owners plan to sell vintage shoes in the new space.
The shop now offers physical gift cards in addition to electronic certificates. Their rewards program, “Memories,” will offer 10% off the next purchase after spending $100 at the store.
Hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The owners plan to stay open through the expansion move.
Customers can stay updated on the move on Facebook and uncommonnostalgia.com.