Atomic Trading Co., in Nickels Arcade, is stocked with the fruits of decades of vintage shopping and thrifting. “‘I am all that amuses me’ was my saying back in the day,” says Community High and U-M alum Alex Kent. “And so many things amuse me!” | J. Adrian Wylie
Atomic Trading Co., Alex Kent’s new vintage boutique in Nickels Arcade, is the furthest thing you’ll find from a market-analysis-based enterprise tailored to capitalize on consumer trends.
“‘I am all that amuses me’ was my saying back in the day,” says the Community High and U-M alumna. “And so many things amuse me!”
After a career working in retail—from youthful gigs at former downtown stores Harry’s Army Surplus and Orchid Lane to serving as business manager for a Harley Davidson dealership—Kent, fifty-three, now has her own showcase for the fruits of decades of vintage shopping and thrifting.
Its name pays homage to one of her favorite periods in American design. “I say this about every decade and era, but I like the fifties,” she says, though her eclectic interests range from antique furniture to Ann Taylor dresses to skate punk and grunge fashions. “I’m not a stickler.”
Skateboards and leather motorcycle jackets are amply represented, but there’s also an ornate Victorian-age piano, diamond jewelry, and fedoras, among other curiosities, with prices ranging from $5 into the hundreds.
The “trading” part of the name is more nostalgia than business model, but she does have one consignor and is open to more, because keeping shop with just one part-time assistant means less time to hunt for new inventory.
Conversing from a 1960s-era low-backed couch she calls “my tiger eye” for its golden brown fabric (one of her many acquisitions from the much-missed Treasure Mart consignment emporium), Kent explains that the idea for the shop emerged after five years as a full-time caregiver for her mother and stepfather. It was “the hardest thing I have ever done. I didn’t quite know what I signed up for, but I’m really glad I was able to do that.
“Once they passed, I kind of got a new perspective, like, we’re on this planet for a hot minute. So it kind of frees you, because you’re like, well, then that’s it. And it sort of takes the fear away from jumping into a very scary thing like this, which is a big risk.”
Rather than reenter the workforce, she returned to her love of vintage, bolstered by her mother’s attic treasures.
“She always loved to give and donate, and so I was like, ‘She wouldn’t mind,’” Kent says. “She might prefer that her stuff isn’t just sitting in a box, that people are giving it life and it’s back out seeing the world.”
Kent started selling at antique malls, but a ten-by-twelve-foot booth in competition with 200 other vendors wasn’t getting her far. Instead she redoubled efforts to scour estate sales, thrift stores, and Facebook Marketplace. She credits real estate broker Nick Zagar with finding the pricey but prime location fronting Maynard St. in the historic Beaux-Arts arcade.
She’s still working to personalize the space, last occupied by Mix, adding shelving and hanging her vintage Suzuki TC125 motorcycle from the ceiling. But the neighboring shopkeepers have already made her feel like she belongs.
“Everyone has been so lovely and inviting and helpful offering advice,” she says. “I couldn’t have gotten luckier.”
Atomic Trading Co., 2 Nickels Arcade, (734) 545–9012. Tues.–Fri. 11 a.m.–6 p.m., Sat. & Sun. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Closed Mon. facebook.com/p/atomic-trading-co-61578785987745
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