Vintage items thrive at Past Chapters in Chesterfield
On an early Thursday afternoon, Mariana Eppes was sprawled out on the floor of a small room filled with DVDs and classic video games at the vintage store Past Chapters in Chesterfield County. A pile was forming a small wall around her as she was showing titles to her sister via FaceTime.
The 18-year-old already had a stack of movies she was going to buy. They included “Transformers”, “Batman,” and “Spider-Man” movies and one classic TV show.
“But I found this, it's 'The Munsters.' I don't know if you've ever heard … I love that show, so I had to get it on DVD,” Eppes said.
Eppes made the 45-minute trip from Nottoway County for this second visit.
“I came the first time with my Dad, because he heard about the place and he wanted to check it out,” she said. “I got a Minnie Riperton record. And I skipped completely past this movie room and went straight to the music, the records.”
Besides the music and movie/game room, Past Chapters is filled with theme rooms. Each nook and cranny is filled with something that catches the eye, from old rotary and push button phones, to vintage skateboards to a Farrah Fawcett head, who’s hair needs a wash, rinse and styling.
“I know. Her hair is really not up to par for Farrah Fawcett, but everyone makes a comment on it,” said owner Stephanie Evans, who owns the vintage store with her husband Rick.
The roughly 2,000-square foot space of Past Chapters is located in a strip mall that is vintage in its own right in North Chesterfield. Soon the store will be overshadowed by the addition of a new Whole Foods store and townhome complex that is being built right behind the store.
It’s the perfect space for the couple, who got their start selling items they found at flea markets on eBay to make some extra money. Then they transitioned to a plot at a local antique mall before deciding to open their own store because they were becoming so popular. This is their second location in the area.
“I sort of describe the store as just a place of nostalgia. We sort of started off mainly doing mid-century and vintage furniture and decor,” said Evans, which is evident as soon as you walk in. “A lot of the bulk of our bigger pieces are in here, as well as a lot of artwork and lighting. We don't want it to ever be predictable or boring.”
The eclectic offering of Past Chapters has drawn in not only locals and people like Eppes from farther away, but from the entertainment industry too.
“We've had movie sets come in, TV shows that have come in and bought from us who still come back when they're in the area,” said Evans. “We've had the Walking Dead. The set designers for 'Dopesick,' the Michael Keaton movie. That's kind of neat.”
Both the Evans describe themselves as 80s kids whose love for that era includes not only skateboards and vintage furniture but horror movie items and punk rock posters.
They've also amassed a good collection of classic video games, from Xbox and Playstation to Wii. Plus, Evans said VHS tapes and action figures are popular items too.
But it's their newly expanded music room that is getting a lot of attention. And it happens to Evans’ favorite spot.
“This actually used to be one of our furniture rooms,” she said. “But as word of mouth got around and we were getting known for music, we needed more space, and so we actually redid this room last year.”
They shut the store for two weeks and rebuilt the whole room, adding record cabinets, wall mounts for CDs and another wall mount for cassette tapes. Plus, they have a record player with headphones so people can listen to an album. The space is one of their most popular rooms that gets people of all ages exploring.
“At first I thought it's just people our age coming in, being nostalgic for the past,” said Evans. “But I've seen a really large explosion with younger kids coming in. They're excited for physical media and they're starting to appreciate actually finding a record, finding a CD, picking it up, having something there that you can hold and touch that's not just online.”
Evans said they are constantly getting new items, from auctions, thrift stores, yard sales and from people wanting to unload their own stuff.
“A lot of people come to us with collections that they're getting rid of, or they're helping a family member clean out a house, or they know someone who's moving,” she said, adding that they get so much stuff that they close the store Monday through Wednesday so they can organize the new items and auction off other items on their online auction site, Past Chapters Auctions LLC.
For Evans and her husband, the store has become more than just a way to sell vintage items.
“Nearly every single person who finds us and comes in says something along the way of, ‘gosh, it's like I stepped back into A, B, C, D, whatever [decade] it was. Everyone loves that feeling of back in the day,” said Evans. “You're selling memories.”
