Have you ever dreamed of owning your own store just after celebrating your 27th birthday?

That香蕉视频直播檚 the dream Nick Rooney is living right now, and opened his own store, iThrift, in Rutland over the weekend. To promote this store, he posted about it on Friday night (Jan. 27) in the 香蕉视频直播楰elowna Marketplace and Classifieds香蕉视频直播� saying his store was opening on Saturday, hoping for 10-20 people to come check the store out. But what did happen, he didn香蕉视频直播檛 expect right away.

香蕉视频直播淥pening weekend was pretty crazy,香蕉视频直播� said Rooney. 香蕉视频直播淚 wasn香蕉视频直播檛 really expecting too many people. I was hoping maybe 10, 20 people came out to show support but the Kelowna community really went above and beyond. We had about 1,000 customers come through the doors between Saturday and Sunday.香蕉视频直播�

Originally from Thunder Bay, Ont., Rooney moved to Kelowna during the pandemic.

香蕉视频直播淚 just wanted something new,香蕉视频直播� said Rooney. 香蕉视频直播淚 wanted to grow up, I was a bit immature at the time and I needed to get away from that headspace and my same habits I had back there. I came to Kelowna for a fresh start.香蕉视频直播�

While selling cars, Rooney has always had the idea to have his own store.

香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 been in my head for about two years,香蕉视频直播� said Rooney. 香蕉视频直播淚 really put the game plan in place in August. Since then, I really didn香蕉视频直播檛 taken any days off. I love selling, I love sales but it香蕉视频直播檚 hard for me to stick to one thing, that香蕉视频直播檚 what I love about the thrift store, you never know what you香蕉视频直播檙e going to get.香蕉视频直播�

Rooney locked down this Rutland location on Sept. 1 and starting collecting inventory from garage sales, auctions, and more.

香蕉视频直播淕etting the inventory wasn香蕉视频直播檛 the hard part, the hard part was going through the inventory,香蕉视频直播� said Rooney, who also printed out barcodes for every item. He collected all the inventory himself for the stores launch, but is now accepting donations from the public.

One of the parts of the store that香蕉视频直播檚 the most important to Rooney is the section where he had old video games and video game consoles for sale.

香蕉视频直播淧enticton has a really big store for video games, same as Vernon and there香蕉视频直播檚 nothing really in Kelowna on a large scale for old retro video games and collectables,香蕉视频直播� said Rooney. 香蕉视频直播淲hat I wanted to do in this store was to have a section off to the side that specializes in vintage video games and collectables and if that goes well, I wanted to expand that side.香蕉视频直播�

The majority of consoles he had in store sold over the course of opening weekend.

One of his other goals is to have an online shopping option for people, including a delivery service so people can shop online and get it brought to them.

香蕉视频直播淚 want to reinvent the way people thrift,香蕉视频直播� said Rooney. 香蕉视频直播淚 want to create a platform where people could thrift from home.香蕉视频直播�

Rooney opened the store despite everything not being finalized, including a logo and a website, which Rooney is now making a priority to finish.

In the six months it took to open the store, Rooney made sacrifices, which included sleeping on an air mattress in the store over the course of November and December.

香蕉视频直播淸The store] means the world to me,香蕉视频直播� said Rooney. 香蕉视频直播淚t was quite emotional seeing the Facebook post blow up. I sacrificed pretty much everything to get this going. There was a time I had an air mattress and I was living [in the store].

After moving across the country, he says his team of five is his family right now, adding he might hire a few more people.

香蕉视频直播淚 want to be one of the cheapest thrift stores around because the cost of living nowadays is so high, and be the place to go where collectors could still get a really good price on some collectables.香蕉视频直播�

iThrift is located at 189 Hwy. 33 East.

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jordy.cunningham@kelownacapnews.com
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