Our Daily Show Interview! Honeybee Vintage: The Perfect Shopping Experience
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ALTON - Honeybee Vintage has celebrated one year in their downtown Alton location, and owner Melissa Bland is pleased to continue her work within the community.
Located at 114 E. Broadway in Alton, Honeybee Vintage sells clothing, antiques, “upscale resale” items, home decor, local art, gifts and more. Bland explained that she houses 20 vendors and curates the remainder of her store to appeal to every customer. She encourages people to come out and see everything Honeybee Vintage has to offer.
“There’s tons of heart in these products,” Bland said. “I curate for quality. I curate for style. I curate for price. If we get that mix right, then it works well.”
The store is open year-round, seven days a week, which Bland feels provides more consistency for vendors than other markets. They have a variety of seasonal products in addition to their regular items. The store also sells several local and historic items, such as Alton-themed t-shirts.
Honeybee Vintage has a website where you can find additional products. There are no one-of-a-kind resale items online, Bland warns, but there is a variety of regional and national products. She emphasized that all of the store’s offerings are unique and curated to appeal to their customers.
“We try to do all not-found-on-Amazon items, things you’re not going to find anywhere else,” she explained. “We really try to be careful to make sure the quality is there…That’s the fun part, isn’t it? It is fun to try to anticipate what the customer will want, what’s going to hit the mark, to keep changing and evolving. You try some things and it’s a flop and so you transition to something else.”
Honeybee Vintage also houses a Children's Bee-tique in their upper loft. Starting July 1, 2025, they will offer a buy-one-get-one sale for all children’s clothing and shoes. If you mention “Our Daily Show!” with C.J. Nasello on RiverBender.com, you can take advantage of this sale early; Bland joked that she is proud to offer “the RiverBender special.”
She added that she loves owning her brick-and-mortar store in Alton, and she is proud of how the city’s business district is growing. She noted that she is always happy to refer her customers to other local businesses. She believes the local business community is committed to helping each other succeed.
“I don’t know how the culture has been in the past, but I think there’s this rising swell of colleagueship and camaraderie between small business brick-and-mortar owners downtown,” she added. “I am so pleased to refer to the good ones.”
As Honeybee Vintage continues to grow, Bland hopes to welcome many new and familiar faces to her shop. You can learn more about Honeybee Vintage at their official website at HoneybeeVintageAlton.com or their official Facebook page. Honeybee Vintage is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 12–5 p.m. on Sunday.
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