About Us
Where did it all begin?
Maple's journey officially began back in 2019, in Montréal, Canada. Having long been fans of vintage clothing, we finally decided to take our first step into the world of actually buying and selling vintage. Montréal, a city which is very close to our hearts, acted as the driving force and gave us inspiration to begin our humble journey.
Eager to get started, we frequented thrift stores, flea markets, antique malls and estate sales as often as possible. We would scour local online marketplaces for deals and opportunities, with that next item always on the horizon. After a few weeks of sourcing, we officially caught the thrifting itch, with the thrill of the hunt becoming almost like an addiction. Within a few months, our one bed apartment on Rue Saint-Famille was overflowing with vintage goods. This would progressively get worse, until we finally moved out.
Back in 2019, Montréal boasted a strong vintage community, with it only growing since. We met many great people in the city along the way, many willing to share their stories and experiences with us, opting to go out of their way to help in any way they could. We remain very fond of these times and stay in contact with some of these people we met during our time in Montréal.
With things finally falling into place in Montréal, with the dust starting to settle on 2019 and our feet firmly on the ground, life unfortunately had other plans for us. Unexpected news followed by the pandemic, brought a swift end to our time in Montréal. We have since been back to visit, however it seems our days of actually living there, are now over. It feels as if a lot is owed to our Montréal days, with it being the source of many of our best memories and also the start of our vintage business.
Having started our journey in Montréal, and on a wider scope Canada, with trips to the states mixed in, it makes sense how our vintage selection focuses heavily on these regions of the world. We naturally gravitated towards "Americana" and "Canadiana", which today plays a strong influence in our vintage selection.
When on the other side of the Atlantic, these items seemed in abundance and much easier to source, so it made sense why we sourced them. However more importantly, it came naturally to us to source them. One of the main reasons for doing what we do is sourcing and finding items we have a passion for, so it can continue to be a driving force for us in the business.
(One of the many thrift stores we regularly frequented in Montréal)
Maple is born
2020 saw us settle in the UK, bringing with us all of the vintage clothing and accessories we had found during our time in Canada. From here onwards, we slowly began our transition into selling in the UK, with many teething problems to start.
With the pandemic and economic uncertainties looming, we decided to continue to push on with our vintage business, under a fresh look. It is here Maple Leaf Vintage was born. The name, although far from the most creative, simply acts as a homage to our time in Canada.
As time progressed, and life seemingly got in the way, we faced many ups-and-downs over the years. From balancing different careers with the business and making almost too many mistakes to recount, our nerve was certainly tested (wanting to quit many times.)
However, what kept us pushing forward, is the sheer enjoyment of all things vintage. Despite it being a business, needing to make money along the way, this wasn't the driving force that kept us from giving up. The world of vintage, thrifting and collecting is a hobby of ours, which has brought has many great memories over the years. Speaking to people about vintage is what came naturally to us. In tandem to this meeting like-minded people in the industry, has led to many hours of conversations and even friendships being made. As competitive and cut-throat as the industry can sometimes seem, the community around it can alleviate these issues.
Another vital factor in our "survival" is the enjoyment closely tied to sourcing and thrifting. Since starting out, the excitement sourcing brings has never diminished. The hours spent in the unlikeliest places, finding unique and rare items, has become some of the most exciting times for us. With sourcing being closely linked to travel, two of our core hobbies become intertwined. As long as we continue to travel, we will continue to source (and vice versa.)
(A thrift store somewhere in Quebec City)
Where do we go from here?
At the time of writing, 2024 has just welcomed us. As with every New Year, comes many goals that we wish to achieve going forward. Having the website live was a seemingly natural goal in our growth, if you are reading this I am glad to say we have achieved that. On top of this, we are using a cross-listing software to populate the other selling platforms (to test and see which generates the best results.)
Aside from that, we will continue to trade at the Frome Independent Market (being local to it) and continue to steadily grow our revenue and stock levels. Of-course a storefront is something that highly appeals to us and if the right opportunity comes us we may jump on it. However our main focus for 2024 will be on growing our online presence, before taking the jump on a storefront.
If you've read this far, thanks for reading our story. To those who have purchased something from us over the years, thank you for the continued support. Any support over the years has contributed to us not giving up and sticking with the business through the tough times. Enough from us. We'll be back in 2025 to update our journey!
Maple & Team x
