A 24-year-old vintage clothing collector opened his own storefront in downtown Puyallup this weekend, filling the racks with jackets, jeans and t-shirts he says span the 1940s through the early 2000s. Ben Vandouris, the sole owner and operator of Grandpa's Garments, held his opening on Saturday, September 19, at 116 S. Meridian, turning years of buying and selling on the side into a full-fledged shop.
Vandouris started collecting and selling vintage clothes back in 2019, while he was still a student at Puyallup High School, according to The News Tribune. He picked up the retail space from a friend who owns the building, obtaining it in early August, the outlet reported. The building itself dates back to 1924, per Realtor.com property records, and most recently housed the specialty food retailer Altha's Louisiana Seasoning n Spices, which moved into the storefront in August 2021.
From Estate Sales to a Storefront on Meridian
Grandpa's Garments combines early-2000s women's clothing with Americana-style workwear and men's jackets, crew necks, T-shirts and jeans, as well as vintage hats. A children's section is planned, according to The News Tribune. Vandouris told the outlet that about 99 percent of his inventory comes from sources other than thrift stores, including estate sales and online sellers, and that he prefers buying larger collections from individual sellers.
Vandouris said vintage clothing appeals to him because it offers shoppers a way to avoid the uniformity of mass-market fashion. The store's atmosphere follows that approach, using vintage pieces as decor alongside the clothing for sale.
Social Media Built the Following Before the Doors Opened
The shop built an audience before opening its physical location. The News Tribune reported that Grandpa's Garments had more than 2,500 social-media followers, and that its online presence helped introduce the business to potential customers and people with vintage items to sell.
That kind of pre-launch traction tracks with what's happening across the secondhand apparel industry more broadly. Modern vintage sellers increasingly lean on digital channels, with 43 percent of secondhand shoppers now buying through social commerce platforms, according to Preloved. Social feeds, creators and livestreams are among the channels shoppers use to discover resale offerings, per ThredUp's 14th annual resale report.
A Downtown Long Known for Antiques Gets a Vintage Clothing Niche
Puyallup's downtown already has businesses selling antiques, clothing and other secondhand goods. Vandouris acknowledges those retailers but describes Grandpa's Garments as strictly a vintage clothing store; his characterization of it as the city's first such shop is based on his own knowledge of Puyallup, according to The News Tribune.
Existing Secondhand Retail Gives the Shop Company
The available downtown business listings do not establish a complete count of apparel, resale, consignment and antique businesses or show how that mix has changed since 2020. They do show that the market is not limited to Grandpa's Garments: the Puyallup Main Street Association's downtown directory lists Rove Vintage as a vintage clothing and gifts business. The broader antique-retail landscape includes 3rd Street Antiques, which says its Puyallup mall covers 15,000 square feet, has more than 85 vendors and sells clothes alongside furniture, jewelry and other goods, according to 3rd Street Antiques. Those listings provide evidence of an existing secondhand and antique presence, but not a verified historical comparison with 2020.
Puyallup's downtown commercial strip continues to evolve. A standalone vintage clothing shop fits into that ongoing evolution, arriving in a city of roughly 42,500 residents with a median household income of $97,826, per U.S. Census Bureau figures.
Riding a National Wave in Secondhand Fashion
Vandouris's timing lines up with a broader surge in resale shopping nationally. The U.S. secondhand apparel market grew 19 percent in 2025, nearly four times faster than broader retail, while the global secondhand market is projected to reach $393 billion by 2030, according to ThredUp's report. The category is projected to reach $78.8 billion by 2030 in the U.S. alone, with Gen Z and Millennials expected to drive more than 70 percent of that growth.
Consumer habits back up those projections. A 2026 retail survey found 62 percent of Gen Z shoppers shopped secondhand in 2025, per Pre-Loved. For a 24-year-old who's been sourcing vintage since high school, that shift in shopping habits has turned a longtime hobby into a storefront on Meridian Avenue.
