Owner of Deja Vu Vintage Robin Krentcil sits in front of the store on Sept. 13 that she has ran for 40 years in downtown Orlando.
Octavious Lawrence
Deja Vu Vintage offers more than a consignment store experience. For owner Robin Krentcil, she wants it to be a one-stop local shop for the Central Florida area.
“I feel like my shop is to shopping therapy as Cheers is to drinking therapy,” Krentcil said. “I’m chatty with my customers. I want people to leave here wanting to come back.”
A landmark of its own, the vintage clothing and antique store celebrates its 40th anniversary on October 2.
A friendly approach has been what kept Déjà Vu Vintage part of Orlando’s local shopping scene. The store had an unlikely beginning. After an unexpected introduction to the world of vintage, it became Krentcil’s career seemingly overnight.
“I wasn’t originally interested in vintage,” Krentcil said. After helping at a friend’s shop for a day and having a successful day of sales, she ended up running the store for three years. “Whether it was fate, luck, coincidence, blessing, meant to be, whatever you want to call it.”
With the previous owner’s blessing, Krentcil opened Deja Vu Vintage in 1986. Krentcil said she worked a bunch of jobs before running the store, but had finally found her niche.
“I didn’t think about failing,” Krentcil said. “I just wanted to try.”
For the first six years, Krentcil waited tables while also operating the store. She said being self-employed requires constant effort, especially when a business depends on one person to keep inventory moving and customers coming through the door.
“You cannot be lazy and self-employed. You have to fight to be successful,” Krentcil said, before joking that she may be “the hardest-working lazy person I know.”
Now at its third location, Deja Vu has spent about 13 years in its current home. In that time, Krentcil has watched both Orlando and the vintage clothing industry change around her.
“When I first started, it was artistic people coming in, you know, the artsy type. Not just people stuck in ‘fashion inertia,’” Krentcil said. “Nowadays everyone has heard of vintage clothing.”
The shop’s inventory stretches beyond the Y2K clothing that has become popular in recent years. Krentcil said she focuses on authentic vintage pieces from the 1950s through the 1990s, but the shop has even carried items dating back to the 1800s.
Krentcil said that new inventory is added to the floor every day, depending on what comes through the door; that can include clothing, jewelry, purses, records, books, cologne and other collectibles.
The store’s true greatest treasure comes from the relationship between Krentcil and the customers.
David Morris, a UCF Grad Student, said the experience at Deja Vu sets it apart and has allowed the store to celebrate 40 years in such a tough market.
“You can actually spend time going through everything and find something that feels unique,” Morris said. “It doesn’t feel like every piece was picked because it’s trending online. There’s older stuff here that you really don’t see everywhere else.”
The student said Krentcil and the store’s atmosphere also contribute to the appeal that makes people keep coming back.
“She talks to people and actually makes you feel welcome,” Morris said. “You can tell this place has been around for a long time because it feels like people already know it and keep coming back.”
“I’m a small business. I pay for all of this,” Krentcil said. “Little acts of kindness are especially important in today’s world, and it helps to get people coming back in good spirits”
Still, Krentcil said she encourages shoppers to visit other vintage businesses as well. Krentcil says greater interest in vintage can help the vintage clothing community and expose more people to older styles of clothing.
After nearly four decades, one of her favorite parts of the job is still just as simple: Krentcil enjoys selling things and meeting the wide range of people who walk through the door.
Just 5 years ago, Krentcil said she hoped someone young would take over the business. Now, with rising prices and fast-fashion trends, she hopes young people like UCF students will keep supporting the business and that her client base keeps coming in.
Junior kinesiology major Stella Lueck first visited the store when she was about 17. She said the experience became memorable before she even made a purchase.
“I went to Deja Vu Vintage for the first time when I was about 17 years old,” Lueck said. “It was a super cozy antique store that was filled with many different booths and types of clothing from different eras.”
Lueck said she and a friend wandered through the clothing and jewelry before eventually striking up a conversation with Krentcil at the front of the store.
At the time, Lueck was looking for a prom dress and noticed an older formal dress displayed on a mannequin. Krentcil suggested she try it on and took it off the mannequin for her.
“I had other clothes to try on as well, so we did a little fashion show, and she had excellent taste,” Lueck said.
The interaction stuck with her and became part of the reason she returned to the store several times afterward.
“I get all kinds of clients, young people, old people, rich people, poor people, whatever kinds of people. They’re all welcome in my shop. I treat everyone with respect, but it’s nice seeing young faces come through the doors,” said Krentcil
Krentcil didn’t know in 1986 how much Orlando would change, how popular vintage clothing would become, or how long the shop would last.
“Support your local businesses,” Krentcil said. “I survive off this.”