Colchester Best Days Vintage owner strives to create community

The Gazette spoke to Jez Dixon, owner of Best Days Vintage, in Eld Lane, as part of our new campaign to support the dozens of fantastic independent and family-owned businesses in Colchester.

The store has offered up vintage clothing, records and a whole lot more to the residents of Colchester since 2013. 

Beverage - Jez behind the counter making a coffee (Image: Newsquest)

Jez, 44, runs the business with his friend Steve Hurdle, 44.

The pair started their Best Days' journey after their band split up. 

Jez said: "We lived in London and we worked for a big chain of vintage clothing stores.

"At the same time we were in a band – I know, cliché alert – but when the band split up we were going into our 30s and we thought it was the right time to move out of London."

The pair decided their next step would be to open up a vintage shop in Colchester.

Storefront - Best Days (Image: Newsquest)

Jez added: "We settled on Colchester as Steve’s family are from here so it gave us a nice base to work with.

"There is also the sixth form college and the university nearby.

"We started out by advertising to teenagers who were our key demographic at the beginning."

Having been open for just over ten years, the vintage shop has changed a lot.

Jez said: "We felt like we had to change over time, especially with the rise of online shopping with things like Vinted and Depop.

"We found it gets harder and harder to sell vintage clothes as everyone is selling them. 

"We felt we had to diversify so firstly we bought in the coffee shop to give customers more reason to come here."

Clothing - Jez with one of the garments the shop sells (Image: Newsquest)

Community and experience-led shopping is something Best Days strives to create and nurture.

Jez added: "We always pride ourselves on our customer service and the atmosphere in the store is always friendly.

"We thought we should give people a reason to come here and to stay here rather than look at some clothes and then leave.

"Then we got regular customers who come in two or three times a week and you start building a community around the shop.

"We started to sell the records which fit in with our past where we played music and were passionate about music and the rise of the vinyl came at the right time.

"You sort of see the crossover with people who like to buy their clothes second-hand they are also into music."