Online vendor succeeds from Greencastle base

In a switch for program topics during 2015 G-A Chamber of Commerce breakfasts, Carol Hall-Jones was the first speaker to share her story on achieving success in the business world. The roster for other local leaders in various aspects of business is being finalized by executive director Joel Fridgen.

Hall-Jones owns Vogue to Vintage LLC, an e-commerce company based at 1098 Armada Drive. A Pennsylvania native, she majored in political science at West Virginia University, then worked for an IT company in Rockville, Md. She slid into eBay sales in her free time.

"It came to a point there was no parking in the garage," she said.

With children coming along and her husband able to work remotely, Hall-Jones decided to become her own boss. The family moved to  Greencastle in 2011.

The entrepreneur grew the business from home, and eventually ran into the same garage problem. She rented warehouse space from Gate 7 in Antrim Commons Business Park. Her number of employees grew to eight.

"The growth happened so quickly," she said Jan. 20. "One of my challenges is to manage that."

Vogue to Vintage still has a presence on eBay, but primarily serves as a third-party vendor on Amazon. Hall-Jones processes the inventory and ships it to distribution centers across the country.

The product line includes makeup, health and beauty supplies, toys, discontinued and clearance items, anything that can be found at a bargain price and turned around to sell. The company buys goods by the pallet or the truckload.

"I love what I do," Hall-Jones said. "The hours fly by."

Though the business does not have a storefront, Vogue to Vintage held a fall open house to clear inventory. Gate 7 had announced it needed to expand its own operations into the leased space. A huge crowd turned out to purchase merchandise. Now those customers are asking for another sale.

Hall-Jones told the chamber audience she is still adjusting to the rapid growth of her venture. She has to find 4,000 to 6,000 square feet of warehouse space pretty soon.