Melanie opened Vintage Diversity in the fall of 2001 in a 10'x10' booth in an antique mall in Boca Raton, Florida.
When she left the corporate world after 25 years, She enjoyed her creative freedom by working part time at a ladies
upscale consignment shop. Not able to sit still, she began designing window displays and merchandising the shop's inventory.
Surprising to her, her window displays received favorable attention from owners of similar shops in the area.
In six months she began sharing her creativity with many shops in Boca Raton and Deerfield under the name of "Creative Diversity".
In between being a wife, mother and working in a consignment shop, she decided to secure a booth at a local antique mall.
She found it very relaxing to frequent thrift shops, flea markets and estate sales "picking" for the unusual vintage piece.
Then her home became a swinging door for vintage clothing and collectibles.
Melanie loved curating collectible items and vintage clothing, then displaying them in her booth.
It was almost like playing store! Her small funky booth boutique was given the name "Vintage Diversity"
After six months the tiny space became an attractive source for large, established vintage shops in Miami, NYC, Chicago and LA.
After receiving the news the mall was to be torn down for a high rise condo,
Vintage Diversity relocated to a 500 square foot shop on Wilton Manors Island in the center of Fort Lauderdale.
In just a few months the local "Drive" known as "antique alley" attracted patrons to Melanie's flair for the funky & unusual.
The size of this tiny store became too small so Vintage Diversity moved to a 1000 square foot shop on the same block.
In a very short time this business took a turn when someone asked Melanie if they could just rent the bell bottom pants for the night. From that point, Melanie began providing styling of era costume rentals to all of South Florida.
The rest is history!
In 2004, Melanie purchased a building on Prospect Road in Oakland Park,
Florida where her vintage clothing, costume, collectibles & prop rentals
grew by leaps and bounds into the 3000 square foot vintage wonderland.
She even rents her 1966 Mustang Convertible for
photo shoots, on location film and television mini-series sites.
Vintage Diversity provides the best quality vintage pieces and props to the film,
television and photography industries.
As well as, individuals and groups
for era theme parties, conventions, bar/bas mitzvas,
mile-stone birthdays, class reunions, family reunions, and Fundraising events
and of course Halloween!
It's been quite a journey and the growth is exciting!
But, the demand for what Vintage Diversity has to offer reached a point where
the showroom is just not enough.
online buying was added to the mix in 2013
with close to 2000 select pieces over two Etsy.com stores
The clothing, styled costumes and props now travel all over the world giving
Vintage Diversity and edge in the industry.
So if you're looking for quality?
Go to the shopping page and click on my ETSY STORES
AND
It doesn't end there folks!
Melanie says:
"As long as I'm upright & breathing,
I'm not going anywhere!"
Now in my 25th year in South Florida
