Roland Fitz is a vintage clothing store and event space in Omaha’s Little Bohemia. Owner, Roland Massow, has a finger on the pulse of Omaha’s fashion and arts scene and joined Omaha Fashion Week this season as a panelist for Metropolitan Community College Student Night. Roland sat down with OFW to answer questions on business, community, and growth.

Roland Massow. Photo by Carley Scott Fields.

WHAT LED YOU TO OPEN A RETAIL STORE FOR VINTAGE CLOTHING?

It started on accident, actually. I was a photographer and I was doing weddings in September of 2018. I had eight weddings, which is a lot, and I was burnt out. I just wanted to do some fashion photoshoots, so I went thrifting. I already thrifted my own clothes, but I went thrifting with the idea of grabbing anything that looked cool to style it later for some photoshoots. Within a month, I had 1,000 pieces of clothes, pretty weird things that had been there for a couple weeks so they were really cheap. I wasn’t thinking about size, I was just thinking, “Oh, I could style this with something.” I would spend $100 for 100-150 pieces of clothing, and I would do that two to three times a week.

Within a month, my attic was full of clothes. Then, I thought, “Okay, this is too much. The photoshoot excuse is not really valid anymore and I’m at a point where I need to make a choice. If I don’t start selling these, it will cross over to hoarding very easily and quickly.” So, I started thinking about selling the clothes.

In October of 2018, I started looking at spaces and didn’t even think about selling online. I would rather have a storefront. I ended up buying out my friend’s storefront. They also sold vintage clothes and had bought out full estates, so I got a good chunk of my starting inventory from them. Then, I did a pop-up in Blackstone; I opened up on Black Friday. I took all the racks and clothes out of my attic, put them in the store space, and spent all night pricing stuff with my friends to open up that Friday. I was there all winter as a trial run. I wondered, “Do they want to buy this stuff?” They did, so I thought, “This is real. I’m going to actually start looking at permanent store space.”

That February, I popped up at Omaha Fashion Week in the retail area and did really, really well. I was already looking at this space down in Little Bohemia. Having the Omaha Fashion Week crowd spend money on my garments was validating. I thought, “Okay, I have good stuff. I’m going to keep doing this.” I knew about a couple of the bars opening up way before it was public knowledge, so I knew that the Little Bohemia area would take off. It’s all old buildings; it fits the vintage vibe. It was very go-with-the-flow. Little things started happening, and before I knew it, I signed a 3-year lease on a 3,000 square foot space.

WHAT SETS YOUR STORE APART?

There's a handful of great vintage stores in town. The main thing that sets me apart is that I’m an event space, as well. That was something I always wanted when I was looking at a space. Honestly, the selling of clothes is kind of a means to an end. I am into fashion and styling and hoping to take the fashion scene in another direction, just bring something different. I wanted an event space where I could host my own parties, have runway shows, do all of this stuff that I want to do. That, right off the bat, sets me apart from other stores. I’ve had plenty of other people I’ve collaborated with, where we’ve hosted their events here. That’s just great marketing; it brings in a ton of people, not only to go to the store but to go to some other event. Then, they're in the store and they buy, or they go tell their friends about this crazy warehouse store that they were at for an event.

I don’t have a niche or an era of clothes, which also sets me apart from other vintage stores. I just pick things that are cool. I have stuff going all the way back from the 1930s to the 2000s in all different kinds of styles, between men's and women's, casual, formal, and streetwear. I wanted to be able to provide, not only space for people to come and express themselves, but the clothes that they can use to express themselves outside of what's on-trend and what is currently the thing that everyone wants to buy and wear. It's both the space that they can come to purchase the clothes that fit their personal style, but also the events that they can come and show off their personal style. That’s the vibe.

WHAT DO YOU HOPE TO DO FOR THE COMMUNITY WITH YOUR SPACE?

I wanted to have a different arm of the fashion community. I wanted to create a fashion-forward creative space, which so many other people are also doing. It's really just me. I don’t have any experience in the fashion industry. I’m just making the store that I want to shop at and the events that I want to go to. So, it just has this authenticity. It's very me. I'm creating a fashion-forward, creative space where people can come to fashion-focused events. They can express themselves through their clothing in a judgment-free zone where I provide the clothing.

HOW CAN THE COMMUNITY BETTER SUPPORT YOU?

Sustainability is a huge thing for me. I feel like I need to do a better job talking about that aspect. It's not only a clothing store, but it’s a sustainable clothing store. More people need to be conscious of where their clothes are coming from, even if they're not buying it from here. There are a lot of people talking about that and that’s huge, especially people in the fashion industry. I think there could be more done with reaching the people that are just casually fashionable. They still like to look cute and know what they like to wear but they don’t necessarily care where their clothes are coming from, versus people who will pay a higher dollar for a sustainably produced piece of fashion. That’s also why I try to have a variety of price points. I have stuff from $5, the majority of things are $20-$30, then we have some high-end vintage pieces that are $100 or more. There's a lot of support on social media, which is amazing. Definitely keep doing that. I could always use more of that, but talking about the sustainability aspect and why you shop at the places you shop at would be a big help, too.

WHAT ARE YOUR GREATEST STRUGGLES AS A BUSINESS OWNER?

The greatest struggle is just running a business. I’m more of a creative idea person, so the day-to-day, boring business stuff is hard. I really have to force myself to just do it. It's just me here day-to-day; I can't afford people to do the other stuff. That’s the biggest struggle, trying to balance all of the creative projects with the business.

WHAT ARE YOUR GREATEST VICTORIES?

The greatest victory is that I got this far despite how bad I am at the normal, boring stuff. I'm nine months into being open and about a year and a half from when I came up with the idea, which is pretty short for opening a business, from idea conception to now. A lot of my ideas don’t make it past the idea stage. We’ve hosted five events, which have had between 500-600 people attending them in total. Just doing it. That itself has been a pretty big victory.

WHAT RESOURCES DOES IT TAKE FOR YOU TO KEEP DOING WHAT YOU'RE DOING?

Money. That’s just what it comes down to. I need people to support the business, and they have. There's been so much support, but especially now it's a slow season. That’s retail everywhere, no one's really buying stuff or out shopping. To support businesses with your wallet is the biggest thing. That’s the only resource I need; I have the clothes, space, and my platform.

WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE CHANGE IN THE OMAHA ARTS COMMUNITY?

I would like to see more people like myself. I’m definitely a creative over a business person, but I feel like more people could embrace the business side of things and create a whole space that is bringing money into the local economy while also being a creative, expressive space, instead of leaving Omaha. The opportunity is here that you can take your creative ideas, form a business, get a space, and just do it. There's a lot of that happening right now and it's creating all of these really cool pockets in Omaha that are authentic and artsy and creative.

HOW DO YOU THINK OMAHA CAN BECOME MORE INVOLVED IN THE CREATIVE COMMUNITY?

It's supporting with more than your social media. Physically going out to things and spending money at those places and those events, inviting your friends to things, and telling people. There's a lot happening in all of the different creative scenes. I do think there needs to be some more intermixing, some crossover, and that’s the next big step for Omaha to level up as a city. The art scene, restaurant scene, music industry, and fashion industry have a significant amount of people that are very active and do go to events. We need everyone going to each other's events because it is a small town. I think that’s what could level us up if we're all going and supporting different industries and having intermixed industry events. It could be the next step as a whole creative industry.

Bring your non-creative friends to stuff, too. Just involve more people. You see the same people at everything, which is great as a community. I feel comfortable going to an event without anyone because I'll know people there. I mean, that is community, but growing the community would be great.

WHAT BIG PLANS DO YOU HAVE FOR 2020?

Speaking of all that, the intermixing and having events that are multi-industry, I’m planning a festival. It’s called FAM Fest: Fashion, Art & Music Festival. It’s part convention, part festival. All morning and afternoon, we have panels, workshops, discussions, and hands-on stuff. Then, in the evenings, we have live music performances and runway shows, as well as a vendor market that will be outside with a variety of local artists, local designers, vintage sellers, and more. The main locations will be here at my store and down the street at OutrSpaces. It'll be a Little Bohemia block party vibe. That’s the big one that’s coming up on May 23rd. We’re bringing a lot of people on board and everyone seems super into it; it seems very needed. I’m excited about the convention side of it where there's panel discussions about various topics. We'll have fashion panels, music panels, and art panels where you go and listen to local industry people that are at the top of their game. We'll have some workshops that are hands-on fashion workshops, art workshops, and music workshops. People are ready for it. I love that it’s, again, what I want to attend.

Support Omaha’s small businesses by following along with Roland Fitz online, and stop in to shop the collection of vintage finds!