Old School Threads

Looking for a one-of-a-kind, vintage University of Oregon sweatshirt? How ’bout a football from the 1995 Rose Bowl? Two young entrepreneurs have just what you’re looking for — and plenty more — just steps from the UO campus.

written by NATALIE RESENDEZ

captured by WILLIAM TAKAHASHI & ELLE WAYT

Glancing at the clock, Julisa Silva Ramirez did a double-take. It was almost 3 p.m. She had to be somewhere — and soon. A University of Oregon junior, Silva Ramirez closed her laptop and rushed to put her shoes on before running out the door of her apartment. It was March 10, the day she had been waiting weeks for.

Finally, she could go shop at The N.E.S.T.

N.E.S.T. is shorthand for Neighborhood Eugene Sustain- ability Team, a vintage clothing store just feet from the main entrance of the University of Oregon. But there’s nothing short about the wait time to get into The N.E.S.T. This was the first time Silva Ramirez had snagged an appointment at the shop since its opening two months earlier. And she wasn’t the only one struggling to land an appointment.

Due to COVID-19, The N.E.S.T. owners Eduardo Olivares and Harrison Stevens have used an online appointment system where shoppers can choose a 30-minute time slot to do their shopping. Although the store is open most days from noon to 5:30 p.m., would-be shoppers have had a hard time finding an open appointment.

Silva Ramirez arrived at the shop and climbed a set of stairs where she was greeted by eclectic decorations and UO memorabilia. The most notable keepsakes include a pair of yellow and green Nike Dunks hanging off a shelf by its laces and several Duck-themed footballs and basketballs.

Scanning the clothing racks, she found a teal vintage fuzzy Champion sweater and a baby blue North Face t-shirt. She was surprised she was able to find such a colorful wardrobe.

“The experience exceeded my expectations,” said Silva Ramirez. “Typically going into a thrift store there’s nothing exciting about it, but here it was different.”

Besides its Champion and North Face pieces, The N.E.S.T. carries a wide variety of t-shirts, sweaters and pants in every color. Customers wait for the store’s new merchandise to come in so they can schedule their next visit. Not only has its large inventory excited UO students, but co-owners Olivares and Stevens have made sure that their shop can serve the locals with much deeper purposes: accessibility and sustainability.

The pair also speak of how they are giving back to the com- munity. They allow Article Won, a Eugene vintage store, to market some of its own inventory within The N.E.S.T. Chet Fiedler, owner of Article Won, has used his experience as a store owner to serve as a guide for Stevens and Olivares as they opened The N.E.S.T.

“Eduardo is very steady and Harrison fluctuates a little more. I think they make a good team in recognizing each other’s [strengths],” said Fiedler. “They’re both very different people, kind of a yin and yang situation.”

Olivares and Stevens previously owned individual vintage online clothing businesses and amassed experience before teaming up. While they promoted similar products, each had their own struggles to begin with.

Stevens’ love for vintage clothing and thrifting began at age 10 when the NBA Seattle Super- Sonics moved to Oklahoma City. He had grown up in Seattle rooting for the team. Saddened by their move, he began to scour local thrift stores for SuperSonics apparel. His thrifting ventures only solidified when he resold a Wonder Woman action figure at age 16. He continued to resell as a freshman at the UO in 2016. Inspired by others selling their vintage finds via Instagram, Stevens created his own reselling business, Stanley Thrifts, in November 2017, during his second year in Eugene.

“I thought, ‘Why don’t I try my hand at this? What do I have to lose?’” Stevens, 23, said.

One of Stevens’ biggest inspirations was Sean Wotherspoon who owns the vintage clothing store Round Two. Stevens even owned a one-of-a-kind pair of hybrid Air Max 97 x Air Max 1s that Wotherspoon designed for Nike’s 2017 Vote Forward campaign.

Aiden Ullman, a former roommate of Stevens, explained how money problems sometimes led Stevens to sell his own personal belongings in order to stay afloat.

“Harrison had a pair of [those Wotherspoon Air Max’s] and had to sell them to pay off this $500 car fee for getting his car towed,” said Ullman. “That was devastating.”

Looking to grow his business, Stevens applied to the University of Oregon Street Faire for the fall of 2018. The UO hosts the faire every fall and spring where students can enjoy a collection of trailers and tables hosting everything from food to clothing to posters. Days passed and Stevens hadn’t gotten a reply. He decided to drive to a thrift store with the intention of selling all his clothes and giving up on his business. When he arrived, he checked his inbox one last time, and he found an e-mail saying that he had landed a spot at the street faire. Shocked and excited, he ran into the thrift store to tell the workers his news.

Like his partner, Olivares had an early passion for vintage thrifting but took a different route to get into the business.

At age five, Olivares was brought from Mexico to the United States by his parents in hopes of a better future. At 16, he applied to become a Dreamer through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy. After being accepted, he then obtained his work permit.

“It really just opened up the whole door for me,” said Olivares, 21, now a junior at the UO. “I really [took] advantage of [the work permit] because there’s a lot of people that aren’t as fortunate as me to get a work permit.”

In high school, Olivares found thrift shopping much more affordable than buying from regular clothing stores. One of his proudest finds was a striped Guess shirt that he purchased for $10 and resold for $120. He continued to resell his finds in Portland until he realized he could run his own business.

In March 2019, during his freshman year at the UO, Oliva- res created an Instagram account called Bounceback Thrifts where he sold vintage apparel, including old band t-shirts and sportswear. The name was inspired by the song “Bounce Back” by Big Sean. Later that year, Olivares became aware of Stanley’s Thrifts. Wanting to connect with Stevens, Olivares reached out to him via Instagram. This was perfect timing as Stevens had once again been secured a spot at the UO Street Faire, this time for the spring.

After meeting and discussing their interests, goals and dreams, Stevens invited Olivares to sell clothes alongside him at the Street Faire. Selling at the faire together got the attention of Public Streetwear, a clothing store in downtown Eugene. Stevens and Olivares were asked to collaborate with the store in the summer of 2019 for a 10-week period.

Once their time with Public Streetwear ended, the two began to brainstorm other ways to collaborate. They eventually landed on the idea of creating their own vintage store. “There are some [vintage stores] in Eugene, but they aren’t quite tailored to college students,” said Stevens. “Accessibility was a big thing that we wanted to provide.”

On January 8, 2021, not even cold, rainy weather could stop the 50 students lined up for the grand opening of The N.E.S.T. Since then, the customers the customers have kept coming back, even during the ongoing pandemic.

“Their vintage jersey collection is pretty impressive,” said Michael Poon, a UO senior. “After coming to The N.E.S.T., there’s no need to go to the other stores because we have the best one in town.”

Besides offering students a vintage wardrobe, Olivares and Stevens pride themselves on giving back to the locals in Eu- gene. Isaac Auxier, a UO student and The N.E.S.T.’s graphic designer, created the image that serves as the store’s logo: a cartoon of a big-eyed Earth with arms, legs and a smile. Auxier said that creating the logo and other graphics has better prepared him as a business major.

“I’m definitely getting a lot of experience there,” said Auxier, 21. “It’s nice to work with a brand that has a message they want to send and an image they want to portray.”

With other students helping with the videography and photography for the business, The N.E.S.T. subsequently started an internship program where creative students at the UO can apply to find ways to enhance skills they may be interested in.

The N.E.S.T. also enjoys helping to uplift other local businesses. Olivares and Stevens created t-shirts and featured clothing from the UO student-made brand Boxen Autzen in their store. They also collaborated with Endless Hair Studio to host an Instagram raffle where participants could win store credit and a free haircut.

“We’re a vintage store, but we’re more than that,” said Olivares. “I have lived in Eugene for 15 years now, so giving to the community has always been a big part of the business.” The vintage clothing store also prides itself on its sustainability aspect.

The t-shirt industry uses millions of gallons of water a year, explained Stevens. “Any way we can help to minimize [that] lets us sleep at night and know that we’re doing something positive for the community.”

The vast majority of the merchandise in the store has been pre-owned. This alone has been one of the store’s main at- tractions. “I think the sourcing and where they get their products from is really unique and different,” Emma Graham, a UO student, said after her first visit to The N.E.S.T. “They’re definitely growing their business and doing it the right way: sustainably.”

One of The N.E.S.T.’s customers is David Miller, who many UO students know as Frog. He’s the bearded man selling joke books on 13th Avenue and across the street from The N.E.S.T. On Frog’s first visit to the store, Stevens immediately greeted him with, “Hey, man, welcome in!” As Frog perused the clothing racks, Stevens said, “Let me know if you see anything you like. I’m sure we can get you a deal.” Frog scoured the racks and found a bright red vintage shirt.

“Those guys have got really cool t-shirts in there,” Frog said. “I just had to have this one red shirt.”

While the sale that day was promoting shirts for $10, Stevens told Frog he could have it for $7. Frog went inside to pay where he found Olivares manning the cash register. Realizing it was Frog, Olivares gave him the shirt for free.

“I think that one thing that separates The N.E.S.T. from other vintage stores and reselling business[es] is that Eduardo and I are University of Oregon students,” said Stevens. “We really do live and breathe Eugene.”