news-record.com

Wild-N-Crazy Vintage is a small shop, but it's packed with treasures for the vintage collector.

The store has racks of clothing from the 1950s to the '80s. Shelves are stocked with 1960s tableware. Suitcases, hat boxes, lamps, cowboy boots, Elvis lapel pins and large sunglasses are some of the items on display.

Crinoline skirts sway from the ceiling. The variety of handbags spans several decades.

Owner Susan Watson started collecting vintage items long before she opened her store on West Lee Street near UNCG.

Watson, 34, believes vintage items are better made and never go out of style.

"Even if that fad has come and gone, chances are it will come again," she says.

Her own vintage collection -- items from the 1940s through the '80s -- has been a work in progress for about 15 years, she says. She's partial to clothing from the 1950s, even if the items don't fit her.

She converted her attic into a little shop and invited friends to come and browse. Her friends invited their friends. Sometimes, they had dress-up parties.

But Watson knew she wanted to move her business out of her house. It was just a matter of finding the right location that was also affordable. The stars finally aligned a little more than a year ago, and she was able to move most of her collection from her overcrowded home to West Lee Street.

We spent some time chatting with Watson about the business and her vintage collection.

What do people buy more: housewares or clothes?

“People buy just slightly more clothes than housewares, but just slightly. One guy in particular — his whole kitchen is decorated with things from this shop. We hang out now. I’ll go over to his house and be like, ‘Hee hee. I sold him that and that.’ ”

How did you come up with the name Wild-N-Crazy Vintage?

“I really dislike names that don’t tell you what the business is. Me and about 15 friends just wrote down random names. We came up with all kinds of off-the-wall names, like Purple Armadillo. But what does that tell you? Wild-N-Crazy Vintage pretty much sums it up.”

What’s the coolest vintage item you own?

“My round white naugahyde couch and Lazy Susan table. The Lazy Susan table is amazing. The top is rosewood. It’s very ’60s mod. It’s probably my favoritest sic thing I own. I bought them both at an auction for $15. ... That was probably the score of my life.”

What’s the coolest vintage item in the store right now?

“Probably the python cowboy boots. Then there’s a really cool cork lamp that I love.”

Contact Tina Firesheets at 373-3498 or tina.firesheets@news-record.com