South of Somewhere Vintage is simply known as “the bus”. It was quite fortuitous that partners Brittney Raymond and J.D. Stroud launched their mobile shop just before the pandemic began. Today, it is much harder to find a school bus. The pandemic has created a demand for vehicles to live in and create mobile shops in.
“Everyone wanted one as soon as Covid hit and it’s extremely difficult to find one that has a good amount of miles and in good working condition,” the duo explains. “This bus was honestly the needle in the haystack. We like to call it a cosmic coincidence.”
The shop is currently popping up along Topanga Canyon Blvd. J.D. quit his job in January 2020 to launch the business. By March they were ready, but also wary of the pandemic beginning. The mobile shop was set up to be compliant with many of the requirements asked of retailers: it could only allow two people inside at a time, it was open air, and technically, it offered curbside pick up.
Brittney and J.D.’s pal Wyatt Pender, of STOKE Design and Build, led the restoration of the bus. A surfboard shaper and carpenter by trade, Wyatt designed and drafted blueprints for the conversion in his studio in Gardena.
Follow South of Somewhere Vintage to shop online and catch one of their pop ups this spring.
@wyattpender
@southofsomewherevintage
