Today we’d like to introduce you to Mandy Heth
Hi Mandy, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I run Double Decker Vintage (DDV). DDV is a semi-permanent shop housed in a vintage double decker bus known as Dobby the Double Decker. Dobby is a yellow, 1990 Leyland Olympian double decker from Manchester, England where he served as a route bus in the city for over 20 years. There are very few double decker buses in the US, especially vintage ones, and Dobby was the only mobile double decker that had been turned into a vintage shop in the country. There was one other stationary shop at the time in either Seattle or Portland, but nobody was driving one of these bad boys around as a mobile shop.
I had been in the vintage reselling business since 2011, mainly doing events and pop-ups and selling online. I was ready to transition to something a little more permanent, but I didn’t like the idea of being tied to one location or one economy and I had seen friends turn Airstreams, RVs and vintage canned ham campers into little mobile shops and I loved the idea – but they just didn’t seem “BIG” enough. So I thought – “What’s the biggest thing that drives, that isn’t a semi, that could be converted into a shop?” and that’s how I landed on the idea of a double decker bus. I spent about two years looking for one in the U.S. that ran and was in decent condition that I could afford and struck out. I eventually ended up getting connected with Mike from Used Coach Sales in the UK. Because double deckers are so common over the pond they’re much more affordable, even with the shipping and customs fees. Or at least they used to be, I’m not sure the process would be quite as quick, affordable and smooth as it was back in 2017 when I bought the bus in today’s market. Since I just couldn’t get this idea out of my head I flew to the UK, went through Mike’s inventory and selected Dobby for three reasons:
1) He was the second tallest model they made, so the upper deck had nearly 6ft of head space, making it easier for a retail space since most of the older models only have a 5’6-5’8 upper deck.
2) He was fully automatic – I did not want to learn to drive a stick shift in a double decker bus! Being right hand drive was enough of a challenge!
3) Dobby was one of only two model years that Leyland used an American engine in their Olympian line. So at least I knew I could get a replacement engine for him if I needed to (side note, I did end up needing that replacement engine down the road, so kudos to me for having that foresight, lol).
Dobby hopped a container ship from Liverpool to Baltimore at the end of 2017 and I flew out to Baltimore the day after Christmas to drive him back to Kansas City where I was living at the time. I could write an entire memoir about my experience, buying, shipping, traveling with, remodeling and taking Dobby places, I’m not sure I ever had an uneventful or completely smooth travel experience with the bus! I didn’t manage to make it home to KC with Dobby in that first go, it would take another five months and some very expensive repairs before he was road worthy again. Let’s just say there’s a reason they take these guys out of commission when they’ve been route buses! I spent a few more months in 2018 remodeling the bus, removing the seats and railings, pulling the ceiling panels, insulating, stripping, painting, putting in flooring, building showcases into the windows and over the wheel wells before he was show ready, but he made his debut for Fall show season in 2018 and was a huge hit.
From 2018-2021 I operated Dobby as a mobile shop – taking him to shows and events in Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas. He’s been to Junkstock, Vintage & Made Fair, Strangefolk Festival, the Strawberry Swing, Hutchfest and so many more wonderful events in the Midwest. However, when I made the decision to move back home to Ohio in 2022 I was looking for a live/work location to permanently park Dobby and run him as a shop because he was becoming a little too mechanically unreliable to keep on the road. I think I’ve broken down in almost every single one of those states or needed some type of repair that was difficult to do and I think Dobby was trying to tell me he was tired!
So I spent about a year looking for a place in Ohio where Dobby wouldn’t be zoned out and I could afford a live/work property and I landed in Lima, OH where I bought a 100-year-old house that had been a podiatrist office for 30 years. The former owner used to see patients in the kitchen. There wasn’t a fridge or stove, just a big old 80s dark brown medical chair. I’ve spent the past two years stripping the house back to some of its former glory, making it a livable home and adding my love of both Mid-Century Modern and Art Deco styling to the cozy little bungalow and trying to build up a semi-permanent shop space in Dobby in the back of the property. Even though Dobby is parked, he’s not quite like a traditional brick and mortar because heating and cooling a stationary bus isn’t exactly like a building. So that’s why I call him a semi-permanent shop. Last winter I tried being open using space heaters to warm the bus and I was blowing fuses in the house and there are days in the summer that no amount of fans blowing can cool that upper deck if it’s in the direct sun so my hours can be very dependent on the weather and temperatures. After using 2023 as a year of trial and error of having Dobby as a stationary shop in 2024 I took a couple of different tacts and pivoted the business just a bit. I started doing shows and events again as a pop-up vendor without Dobby to help drive business our way and to promote the bus shop and expand our reach since Lima is a smaller city and many people who love vintage fashion tend to live the bigger metros. This winter I also opened space in the Lima Mall from November-March in their Pop-Up Shop location to provide customers with more consistent hours and a warmer shopping experience! I see DDV continuing this trend for 2025 with a focus on making the bus more of an event and special occasion shopping experience as I continue to explore what works best as a single-woman owned business in a shifting economic landscape.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Beyond the mechanical challenges I mentioned before, anytime you try to do something that doesn’t quite fit within a “normal box” most systems aren’t really set up to handle uniqueness. Some states require oversized travel plans be submitted when traveling with the bus, but others when you describe what it is literally just tell you to be careful! Getting titles and plates isn’t easy. Sometimes getting into shows or events were a logistical issue. I’ll never forget the first time I pulled up at a show site and realized that Dobby wasn’t going to fit under the archway into the grounds and I had to go find the event coordinator to figure out a back way or alternative route into the venue. After that whenever a show contacted me to be a vendor or before I submitted an application I always made sure I could actually fit, that they understood my specs and limitations for where I was placed (like don’t put me under low hanging tree branches!) and the route to the show location was one the bus was capable of making.
I’ll also never forget the one time the trucker app I always used to plan my travel routes did me dirty and I found myself approaching a 13’10 bridge (the bus is 14’3″ tall) and I had to pull onto the side of the highway in Oklahoma, put the bus in reverse and back up a mile, go the wrong way up an on ramp and take an outer road around the bridge I couldn’t fit under. All I could think was “thank goodness it’s 7am on a Sunday so the road isn’t busy and please, please don’t let there be cops!”
When you run a small resale business like this – nothing is ever easy. Adding a unique or unusual component on top of it adds interest and builds awareness, but definitely comes with it’s own set of challenges and costs. It was a hard decision to stop taking Dobby to shows, because I had put so much into building the bus out and I did well at events with him, much better than I do as just a tent or booth vendor. But I had to weigh the cost of repairs, maintenance and my personal safety, as well as the safety of other motorists if something were to happen while I had him on the road and make the call to change direction and try to hope people would still be curious if they saw a stationary double decker bus some place out of the ordinary.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Besides being housed in a really cool location like Dobby the Double Decker, DDV is a true vintage shop. I specialize in clothing, jewelry and accessories from the 1930s-early Y2K. At a lot of the vintage clothing shows I do I’m considered an OG since I’ve been selling vintage since 2011. I’ve always been a nerd and I love history. So one of the things that sets me a part from a lot of other resellers is I often know some real or personal history about the pieces I sell. I do research on how to date items and because I tend to buy my inventory from estates or hoard clean outs or personal sellers, I often know a little history about the former owners I can share with someone when they buy a piece. I love to share this information so a customer knows how special their piece is and what memories they’re adding to when they wear or use an item from the shop.
In addition to these pieces I’m one of the only resellers in the Midwest that is selling a part of the 55,000 Dresses Collection of Paul Brockman. Mr. Brockman collected more than 55,000 vintage dresses, skirts and outfits so that his wife Margot would always have something different to wear when they went ballroom dancing. He started collecting in the 1950s and they began selling the collection in 2017 in California. The final container of dresses was emptied and sold in November of 2024 and Mr. Brockman passed away in December, knowing that all of his amazing pieces were going to find new homes. He held the Guinness Book of Records record for the most vintage clothing labels. I went to California in 2023 to purchase around 500 pieces from the collection and bring them back to Ohio where Mr. Brockman first began collecting.
DDV has always had a mission to bring old things new life and I aim to sell quality items at affordable prices that are perfect for collectors, those who live a vintage lifestyle and those who like to incorporate vintage into their modern lives.
What matters most to you?
In a world where fast fashion and constant trend changes are being pushed I’ve always strived for DDV to be an example of better-quality goods that can easily be adapted to fit modern trends and styles – but are classic enough to last longer and be items that can be passed down, not thrown away. Most of the clothing and jewelry in my shop is already 40-60+ years old since I tend to be heavy on 60s-80s pieces. The pieces are still in great shape because they were manufactured or handmade differently than modern clothing and jewelry. The materials used to make these items were meant to be durable and often times modifiable or worn in several ways and it shows in their longevity. I want younger generations to see that modern trends often sample from the past and it’s easy to find vintage pieces that can be incorporated into their styles that will make them unique and able to show true self-expression.
The other thing I love about vintage is it gives me a chance to educate, to share knowledge and open up possibilities for items and encourage others to step outside of their own “box”. As someone who has always done things a little more unique or that many people have thought were strange or out-there as business ideas, I’ve found that I am happiest when I am my authentic self. I spent more than a decade working in marketing/advertising/PR for firms and in a corporate world that I never seemed to quite fit in. When I stepped away from that world and fully invested in being a vintage business owner I’ve told people that while I don’t have the luxury of a steady paycheck and benefits I got my soul back and that’s worth more than you can imagine.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://doubledeckervintage.etsy.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doubledeckervintage
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/doubledeckervintage
- Other: https://linktr.ee/doubledeckervintage
