When they opened a clothing consignment store in St. Elmo last May, Sondra Aten, 25, and Travis Aten, 27, were jumping head first into untested waters.
Although neither had any experience in business or clothing retail, they’ve turned their store, Collective Clothing, into something of a neighborhood hot spot. Basing their operation on Rag-O-Rama, a similar thrift store in St. Louis, the Atens now carry a bevy of hard-to-find fashions, vintage and current, and offer up gallery and stage space for local bands and artists.
CP: When did you open Collective Clothing?
SA: May 31, 2009 was our first day open. We took about a month to get it ready. We based the idea off a similar store – there’s one in Atlanta – in St. Louis called Rag-O-Rama. We really liked what they were doing and decided that Chattanooga needed something like that. We had been collecting clothes for five years and decided it was time we find a place in St. Elmo. We love the community there. We live in St. Elmo as well. We put a month into putting it together. Since then, we’ve just grown so much, inventory wise and as business owners.
CP: So you had the idea to open a store five years ago when you started collecting clothes?