Vintage clothes shop in York city centre closes its doors

The Vintage Works in Grape Lane has shut after opening in a former bridal shop in April 2024.

James Ratcliffe, partner and head of commercial agency Colenso, which is now marketing the shop unit for £29,000 per year, confirmed the closure.

The Vintage Works in Grape Lane which has closed (Image: Newsquest)

James told The Press there has been a lot of interest in the Grape Lane unit and he looked forward to welcoming a new tenant, yet to be named, soon.

The Vintage Works has been approached for comment.

Chris Brown, from the North East, opened the Vintage Works in 2024 with his silent business partner.

The store stocked a range of vintage clothing, including American sports items which Chris said were popular with customers.

Vintage Works co-owner Chris Brown and inside the store in Grape Lane after it opened in 2024 (Image: Dylan Connell)

Chris, who worked in finance before opening the store, told The Press he wanted to make a career out of his interest in pre-loved clothes.

The closure of the Vintage Works comes after it was announced that the Vault Seven vintage clothing store in Lendal will be closing on Sunday (September 14).

Business partners Sammy Clews and Betsy Vaca opened Vault Seven in the former Jack Wolfskin building in December 2024.

Vault Seven in Lendal which will close on Sunday (September 14) (Image: Newsquest)

In a social media post, Vault Seven thanked customers and said “we feel that now is the right time to bring this chapter to a close”.

“As a small, privately owned business, every bit of support has meant more to us than you probably realise,” the post said.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the time we’ve had, and we’ve genuinely enjoyed ourselves along the way.

“We’ll look back on Vault Seven with a lot of very good memories.”

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Meanwhile, York’s vintage clothing scene suffered a further blow earlier this year when long-standing retailer Dog and Bone in Castlegate announced it would be closing the shop.

Owner Nic Musgrove-Barker told The Press the Castlegate store would close in June after 13 years to focus on online sales.

Dog & Bone Vintage which closed its Castlegate store in June (Image: Supplied)

“The shop has simply declined month-on-month for over a year now, and as online sales have grown, the physical store has reached its natural end,” he said.

“Business rates have always been an issue – as a local self-employed individual with only a few local staff, I have paid practically the same rates as a bigger chain would on the premises.

“It’s the same with VAT – it would be fairer to tier that so developing businesses got a chance to grow, but these are country-wide issues I know a lot of independent business owners grapple with.”