Entrepreneur Ellen invests in her first retail shop alongside her online vintage fashion business

Many Swindonians may have noticed there’s a new name in Old Town, Kapada – a vintage fashion shop.

What you may not know is that the woman behind it, Ellen Wray, has fulfilled a long-held dream of opening up a physical shop after developing a successful online business over the last three years. 

The 27-year-old who is a former student of Ridgway School, has taken the gamble to open up her own shop to sell good quality vintage clothes and also to showcase some of the artistic talent around our town. 

“I’ve always loved fashion,” Ellen said. “I have also always enjoyed independent retailers where shops are different and while at university in Bournemouth, I really got the vintage bug. I’ve always been a bit of a bargain hunter and the town was full of vintage shops where I could browse to my heart’s content.”

After university, Ellen started working for a small online retailer and really got to understand how the online marketplace operates. However the business went in a new direction and Ellen thought it was her opportunity to start up her own vintage online business to see if people liked her fashion choices. She has a particular love of the 1980s. 

“At first I did my business part-time and then went full-time and it did well. However I always wanted a shop yet one with a little class. Many people still want to touch, feel and try on clothes. They want a more personal experience. I wanted my customer base to have a choice of how to engage with me.

“Often vintage shops can be a bit dark, they can even smell a bit or they are so packed with ‘stuff’ that you can feel overwhelmed. Here I try to keep the space open and light, it’s not over-stocked and because I have stock at home I can refresh the stock very regularly.

“I get to share my passion with customers and if they see something they like yet not in their size I will try to source something for them.”

Kapada opened its doors back in October and is already gaining new customers. This has, in turn, led to Ellen collaborating with other creative talented people in and around Swindon. She stocks clothes from the local sustainable fashion brand By Hamlet, illustrations by Lora O’Callaghan and products from Charlotte Manser Ceramics. 

To find out more visit Kapada in real life or online here - https://www.kapadavintage.co.uk – and when you visit you might think ‘what’s with the pineapples?’. Well the secret is simple says Ellen “I just like pineapples!”.