Best friends open vintage-antique store in Newport
NEWPORT — Amanda Dishaw has some good stuff.
That is how she came up with the name of her new business: The Good Stuff, a jewelry and vintage-antique home goods and collectibles store with items from Dishaw’s own years-old collection. The Good Stuff opened June 2 at 325 S. Washington Ave. in downtown Newport, which previously housed Shaw’s Antiques, another antique store that closed around early May after a few years of operation.
“This isn’t even a quarter of it,” Dishaw said of The Good Stuff’s catalog.
The Good Stuff’s jewelry is mainly antique, but also includes vintage, secondhand, modern and costume jewelry. Many were handmade or repurposed by Dishaw herself. Besides those are the home goods and collectibles, including mostly higher-end vintage glassware, dishware, lamps, reloading equipment, miniatures, model cars and other clothing such as bags and dresses. Per Dishaw’s love for the cultures, part of her collection is of Asian or Victorian English origin.
Prices range from $5 to $100 depending on the item and factors such as age, rarity and brand. Alongside her best friend and business partner Rainy Kinkaid, Dishaw vets each item, labelling it with findings from their research. They plan to restock The Good Stuff every month, sometimes every week if demand allows.
“The stories, the education pretty much is what draws me,” Dishaw said.
The Good Stuff is not Dishaw’s first vintage business. For almost two decades, she has owned Snowman Vintage Snowmobiles, a vintage snowmobile company with over 700 used snowmobiles, machines and parts from the mid-1990s and older. Her father introduced her to snowmobiles and fly tying, the latter of which was what led Dishaw to jewelry-making.
Kinkaid, who learned how to upholster from her mother, has owned an upholstery business for over two decades. She and Dishaw have known each other for about three decades and have been friends for about one, sharing a passion for everything vintage. They are considering adding vintage furniture, upholstered by Kinkaid, to The Good Stuff’s catalog.
“We put in a lot of work into this place,” Dishaw said. “So, we’re kind of in it together.”
Before The Good Stuff, Dishaw had been making and selling jewelry at local bazaars for about two decades. To do so, she needed to transport her jewelry there each summer. This process proved to be “a pain in the keister,” Kinkaid said, but Dishaw could not afford the planning and construction required to operate a business out of her Diamond Lake home, where she also operates Snowman Vintage Snowmobiles.
Then, she heard Shaw’s Antiques was closing in Newport.
“I went ahead and contacted the owners and said, ‘Hey, I want into your shop,’” Dishaw said. “‘So I’m willing to do whatever it takes to get in there.’” She heard back May 7, did a walkthrough of 325 S. Washington Ave. with Kinkaid that day and was handed the keys to the address soon after.
For the next month, Dishaw and Kinkaid “cleaned like crazy,” Dishaw said. They spent late nights repainting the walls, redoing the floors and labelling and transporting the hundreds of items for sale at The Good Stuff. Now, customers praise 325 S. Washington Ave. for its elegance and atmosphere.
The Good Stuff is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tuesdays to Saturdays.
“I love looking stuff up and finding the history out about things,” Dishaw said. “And I appreciate it, and I like giving it to others that appreciate it.”