From side hustle to online business to market booth, a Lehigh Valley vintage retailer will upgrade once again with a new storefront in Bethlehem.
Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop will open by December at 97 E. Broad St., owner Aaron Stutz said.
The store will offer clothing from the 1980s to the early 2000s such as T-shirts, hats, pants and jackets, sourced from flea markets and other locations. It even has some old Morning Call apparel, a photographer spotted.
“I love looking through … old clothing that people have,” Stutz said. “I love waking up early in the morning before the sun rises to go to a flea market, to search around with a flashlight, to see what I can find. Every day that I go out to find stuff, it’s kind of like a treasure hunt. Some days you find gold, other days you don’t find anything, but that’s part of the fun.”
Stutz, who runs after-school programs at William Penn Elementary School, started the Yung Esau’s business in 2018 in Colorado before he moved in 2021 to the Lehigh Valley.
“I had a pretty large Grateful Dead collection that … in order to keep buying more, I ended up buying and selling them to make money, to sort of be in the habit of buying T-shirts, and that sort of spiraled into more than just Grateful Dead T-shirts,” he said.
Yung Esau’s also became one of the early booths for the Belleville Market when it opened in 2023 in Easton, a booth that will continue to operate despite the Bethlehem store opening.
“It’s been great to see the person I love grow something that he loves,” said Dylan Star, a yoga instructor and Stutz’s wife. “It started from an overfilled closet that we shared and it’s turned into a store. So it’s really nice to see him have a passion for something and use the knowledge that he has for something much bigger than what he is.”
Stutz said many vintage items are “more quality than a lot of the items and garments that are made currently. So oftentimes, you could walk in a vintage store in New York City or Philadelphia, and the prices can be pretty, pretty scary and pretty high. We like to keep our prices at market level, but also we like to make sure that people can come in and feel like they could spend their hard-earned money, but leave with something great and not break the bank totally.”
He added that his kind of business model is also better for the environment, and improves the long-term use for clothing that someone may buy new but only wear once or twice before getting rid of it.
“So part of having a vintage shop is not just creating a space and finding clothing that’s cool, that we like and that we want to share with other people, but it’s also making sure that clothing doesn’t end up in the landfill,” Stutz said.
Stutz hasn’t determined the exact operating hours yet, but said the store will start by operating Thursday through Sunday.
The property previously hosted businesses such as Broad Street Tattoo Parlour, Metro by T-Mobile and iMobileRescue.
Aaron Stutz, owner of Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop, shows clothing in the shop on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Aaron Stutz, owner of Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop, shows clothing in the shop on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Clothing and other vintage items are on display Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Clothing and other vintage items are on display Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Clothing and other vintage items are on display Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Clothing and other vintage items are on display Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Clothing and other vintage items are on display Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Clothing and other vintage items are on display Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Aaron Stutz, owner of Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop, shows clothing in the shop on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Clothing and other vintage items are on display Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Clothing and other vintage items are on display Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
Clothing and other vintage items are on display Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, at Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
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Aaron Stutz, owner of Yung Esau’s Vintage Shop, shows clothing in the shop on Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025, in Bethlehem. Opening in November or December, the shop will sell vintage clothing that from the 1980s to the early 2000s. (Amy Shortell/The Morning Call)
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Lehigh Valley retail and restaurant news in brief
Identity Coffee Co. will tentatively open in January at 855 S. Broadway in Wind Gap, where it will serve coffee, refreshers, seasonal drinks such as pumpkin spice, bagels, doughnuts, in-house cream cheeses, sandwiches, soups and salads.
The Monroe County-based Spice Route restaurant will open a new location in a couple of weeks at 845 Linden St. in Allentown, according to Kailash Goswami, who will co-own it with Sarfraj Hossain. It will replace the Crispy Halal restaurant that opened in late 2024.
The menu offers paneer tikka, bhajia, Kung Pao chicken, fried rice, noodles, shrimp, curry, lamb, goat and desserts.
The nail salon Ace Nail held a grand opening Sept. 26 at 1521 Easton Ave. in Bethlehem, it announced online. Services there include head spas, manicures, pedicures and waxing.
3 Broke Blokes Grille announced its closure last week at Lost Tavern Brewing’s taproom at 444 Main St. in Bethlehem.
“[We] want to thank Lost Tavern and their crew for the opportunity and we are sorry it didn’t work out as planned,” the restaurant said online. “We would also thank our customers who have come in to try out the food. We will miss you all.”
The caterer Clam Jam Boil & BBQ, which opened 3 Broke Blokes in July, will continue to operate.
Lost Tavern Brewing thanked the 3 Broke Blokes team online for the partnership.
“While we say ‘goodbye’ to our friends at 3 Broke Blokes Grille, we’re proud of what we built together and the energy that was growing around this collaboration,” it said.
Retail Watch is a weekly column covering retail and restaurant news in the Lehigh Valley. Have a question, tip, or want to see something in the area? Contact retail reporter Graysen Golter at retailwatch@mcall.com.