This week, the Mission’s newest hip shop opened its gold-painted doors. Housed on an otherwise residential block of 20th Street (at San Carlos), the Stone Pony is already proving to be a popular spot for the city’s discerning vintage shoppers.
For those of you who think the Mission needs another thrift store like it needs a hole in the head, fear not: The Stone Pony isn’t a typical thrift store stuffed with overpriced used clothes shipped in by the bundles. Instead, the shop is a mixture of affordable hand picked vintage items, locally made jewelry and spiritual accessories, like sage and crystals.
The eclectic mixture is already attracting crowds. At the store’s opening party, crystals flew off the shelves just as fast as the vintage denim jackets. A few hours into the party, the small store was nearly empty. Racks that once held custom made-pendulum necklaces were bare, overflowing shelves of vintage clothes nearly empty (save an amazing pair of gold lamé stretch pants I snagged for $12). But the next day it was fully stocked again.
“Don’t worry, I have so much more just waiting to be inventoried,” says Coco Cohen, the store’s owner, primary buyer, and in her words, “dreamer.” Cohen has been thrifting since she was a little kid in Tucson, Arizona. As reflected in her shop’s inventory, she’s also a firm believer in the spiritual. “I’m a Cancer, after all,” she says, while ringing up a pair of gold-toed cowboy boots and a bunch of sage.
Cohen started The Stone Pony (named after fellow Tucsconian Linda Rondstadt’s first band) as “a giant leap of faith.” She doesn’t own a credit card, has no investors, and has paid out of pocket with money she has saved as an ER nurse. The first night Cohen worried about paying rent on the store, but even with a modest price point (most clothes under $15 and shoes under $30), she far exceeded her financial goal. “It’s been so amazing,” Cohen says, looking around the space she and her friends remodeled themselves. “I feel really blessed.”
The Stone Pony, located at 3552 20th Street is open Wednesday through Sunday 12-7.
