Fresh Pickings to Be Found In Orange

The Orange Circle is already known as an antique destination, but one downtown boutique is spinning its retro merch for the modern customer. Something's New, next to Mr. C's records, is part contemporary clothing and jewelry and part sifting through your grandmother's attic treasures.

“A lot of antique stores just have the same stuff over and over,” says Allyson Albin, who owns the shop with her childhood friend turned boyfriend, John Cory. The 26-year-olds wanted to make antiquing fresh and accessible to the waves of young souls pouring in from nearby Chapman University. The racks of trendy tees and kimonos certainly make the store seem unassuming, but it's the shelves of old records and home goods that keep you browsing.

And it's no wonder the curiosity shop begs you to pick things up—it's part of Albin's family's business. “My family owns an estate-sale company called Small Cost,” she explains, “and we help people organize their estate sale or do a complete buyout and disperse the leftovers into our booth at the OC Antique Mall.” Both Albin and Cory worked in retail growing up, but Albin says the antique business couldn't feel more different. “I went from normal hours and getting gussied-up for a shift to waking up at 5 a.m. and spending my whole day in rafters.”

But that's how Something's New keeps prices low. “Because of what our family does, there is literally something new in the store every day,” Albin says. It also makes the shop accessible to all genders and ages; among the best-sellers are Golden Books from the 1950s and '60s, which send people reeling with nostalgia. “It's always a treasure hunt,” Albin says, “because we're constantly on the hunt.”