WILKES-BARRE — For longer than she could remember, Jaclyn Savage dreamed of owning a vintage clothing store.
“I was probably like, four or five and obsessed with vintage,” she said. “My mom sews and I remember as a kid, we would watch old period films and she’d pause it and we’d talk about the fabrics their clothes were made out of.”
At 34-years-old, Savage turned that dream into a reality when she opened Cowboys in Paris last December at 96 S. Main Street in Wilkes-Barre.
The business owner, who grew up on South Franklin Street, described the store as a place for people to come and appreciate the past and peruse racks lined with hand-picked vintage fashions.
In addition to shopping, customers can also get a massage at Cowboys in Paris, courtesy of Savage’s best friend, Cait, a licensed massage therapist and cosmetologist, and owner of Body Work by Cait. Each business offers a discount for each other’s customers.
Cowboys in Paris also offers a 15% discount to college students.
“I’m one of those people who have nostalgia for times when I wasn’t alive,” Savage said. “I don’t want to go as far as to say I wish I lived in a different time because being a woman is better now, but aesthetically, I belong in the past.”
The name, Cowboys in Paris, was inspired by Savage’s personal taste.
“My friends used to call me the Parisian cowboy because the things I’m drawn to are a little Euro-trash and a little bit Western,” she explained.
That unique blend of styles, in addition to her love of fashion from the 1940s and 1990s, can be found throughout the shop, from the clothing to the decor.
When selecting pieces to sell, Savage said that her process is “purely intuitive.”
“I have a real appreciation for quality and fabrics. If something is old and tattered, I can tell if it’s worth the time and energy to fix or not,” she said.
Savage first dipped her toe into the world of sales more than 10 years ago, when she started selling items on the popular craft and vintage website, Etsy.
She did that for a couple of years before moving to New York City, where it was nearly impossible to keep up with it because she didn’t have enough space to store her inventory.
It wasn’t until a few years ago, after she had moved back to Wilkes-Barre and was in the process of leaving her job as a bar manager, that she decided to try her hand at selling again.
“It was sort of like, what’s next? What better time than now?” she said.
Luckily, Savage had help getting on her feet when she was approved for a Spark Wilkes-Barre Grant, a program designed to help lessen the financial burden on business owners in their first year of business and encourage economic growth in the city.
The program, which has since concluded, was funded by the City of Wilkes-Barre’s American Rescue Plan Act’s Coronavirus State and Local Fiscal Recovery Funds.
“That was really the final push I needed. I think, if that didn’t exist, I would have never taken this chance,” Savage said.
The business owner said she was proud to be a part of the downtown Wilkes-Barre community and received a warm welcome from fellow business owners in the area.
“Everybody is pretty like-minded and forward-thinking and they really see the potential in Wilkes-Barre. Not a lot of people did for a while. People are starting to get more optimistic about our hometown now and that’s wonderful to see,” she said.
The experience of opening Cowboys in Paris has led to a lot of life lessons for Savages.
“Everything takes longer than you think it will and if you aren’t really motivated, nothing will get done,” she said.
She continued, “There are days when you wake up and you’re like, ‘This a soup day, I’m gonna stay in bed,’ but then you know, your bills aren’t going to get paid.”
Savage finds the motivation to keep going whenever one of her items finds a new home.
”Sometimes, people feel skeptical about trying on something, but then they put it on and you see that little spark and they come to life. That is by far the best part of my day,” she said. “It makes all of the nonsense you deal with on a daily basis worth it.”
Cowboys in Paris is open from 1 to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday.
To book a massage or facial with Cait, visit bodyworkbycait.square.site
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