Bucks Student Entrepreneur Feature: James Carbone

CB West Senior James Carbone credits a “Grateful Dead” shirt that he saw on an Instagram page “a while ago” when describing the origins of his passion for vintage streetwear. Shortly thereafter, he began to shop in consignment shops and thrift stores throughout Bucks County for the vintage clothing that highlighted “the positivity that the past had”.

When he found a something good, James told me with a smile breaking out, “I always would come home and announce, ‘hey mom I have Good News! I just found this sick vintage piece that’s in amazing condition.’”

During the pandemic, though, as he spent time in his room and noticed his vintage collection begin to overflow, he saw an opportunity. “Why not spread the Good News?”, he figured. So, he set up a side-hustle with a simple name: Good News Vintage.

He launched Good News Vintage by making an Instagram page where he posted clothing for sale, using snapchat to help “get people on board” with his idea and eventually creating a website (goodnewsvintage.com) where he now lists policies and items for sale.

He grows his collections the same way he did before he started his business—by scrounging thrift and consignment stores throughout the area—only shopping more aggressively now. When describing what he looks for, he shows an acute awareness for the art of vintage items. He explained to me how he will often find a cool shirt but can tell it isn’t vintage by the color of (or absence of) the shirt’s tag. “Yeah, it might be cool,” he says, “but that’s not vintage.”

Much of his business’s value is the growth of an “appreciation for vintage clothing and style” from groups of young people, he told me on our call. He loves talking to people about the history and details of the clothing he sells, and he describes the interaction with customers discussing vintage clothing as the most fulfilling part of starting his business.

There is a grind to it, though. Often, James fills up entire afternoons going out and buying clothing, delivering it to buyers, and organizing the business. He hopes to be able to spend more of his time buying in the future, and less time having to deliver and sell his orders.

James is attending Alvernia University in the fall of 2021, where he will play baseball and hopes to major in business administration. He hopes to be able keep building his business in college and explained to me that whether or not he started Good News Vintage, he would still be refreshing his computer every morning at 10:00 AM to try to “snag” something that catches his eyes. Running a business, to James, is about more than making a quick buck.

For more on Good News Vintage, make sure to visit goodnewsvintage.com, add James on snapchat (jamescarbone08), and follow the instagram page @goodnews.vintage.