Interview: vintage clothing entrepreneur John Hickling turns passion into business

12 years from selling charity shop purchases on eBay, vintage clothing entrepreneur John Hickling is now aiming to take his Barnsley-based business, Glass Onion Vintage, into the international market place.

Today the company employs 14 people and operates a 23,000 sq ft warehouse and distribution centre, and this continued success shows no signs of slowing down as John and his team expand their customer base and court new suppliers in the USA.

Glass Onion Vintage, established in 2006, is also expected to see significant growth now support has been offered from Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre (BBIC) through the Enterprising Barnsley programme, which is funded by Barnsley Council.

Being able transform a small student venture into a global enterprise shows John to be a great example of a young entrepreneur transforming his passion into a successful business, and how Yorkshire SMEs utilizing the export marketplace to their advantage.

Therefore, Bdaily spoke with the local Barnsley lad to find out the story behind Glass Onion Vintage, and his own journey as the boss of the vintage clothing wholesaler.

What made you initially decide to sell vintage charity shop clothes on eBay?

“Getting paid for doing something I love to do was the reason I decided to sell clothing on ebay.

I loved rummaging through thousands of garments to find hidden treasures. I would find 1980’s football shirts, band t-shirts and 1970s Levis denim jackets. My wardrobe was busting at the seams so I decided to sell a few of the items which I no longer wanted to wear. To my surprise people seemed to like the selection as every piece sold. This gave me a few hundred pounds, so rather than replenish my wardrobe I used the money to start a small business.“

When did you realize this could become an actual business?

“We realised Glass Onion could become an actual business when we started getting interest from high street fashion buyers and when we started to see 1-2 thousand people enter our “kilo sales” every weekend (Kilo sales are pop up events we do nationwide –this month we are in East London, Oxford, Manchester, Bristol, Edinburgh, Brixton and Birmingham).

“Until that moment, it was just a hobby; I earned enough money to pay the business bills and to travel. I worked in London every weekend, I travelled around Europe buying clothing and meeting people, it was just a fun thing to do that I have been lucky enough to develop with the team.”

As Glass Onion Vintage will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year, what were the early years of the company like? When did you start seeing significant growth?

“The early years were very difficult. We were very “hand to mouth”, we had no cash and I didn’t have a clue about how to run a business. I learnt a lot of lessons, the hard way, which wasn’t fun at the time but I believe these experiences have helped create a stronger foundation for the next stage of our development.

“Our initial growth period came around 2010, we moved into a small 3000sq ft. warehouse from our “lock up” and we started proactively looking for new ways of attracting the customers we wanted to work with. Once we met these customers we focused on our relationships with the buyers and delivering a good product, that’s when the growth started.”

As Glass Onion Vintage is already exporting clothing to Japan, Sweden, Holland and Chile amongst others, what does the future hold for the company in the international market?

“Export only represents around 7% of our current turnover. There is so much more we can do with our existing wholesale business in the international market. We did a one-off kilo sale in Amsterdam which I would be keen to develop further.

“The next stage of our business will be manufacturing our own garments from recycled materials. There is a big demand for British made clothing overseas, we want to be part of a recycled fashion movement which uses South Yorkshire manufacturers and recycled fabrics. I believe that high street “fast fashion” is great but there is no reason why it can’t be environmentally friendly, ethical, sustainable and profitable.”

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