Folks have been selling stuff out of the trunks of their cars and the backs of wagons for ages. Actor Viggo Mortensen played the Blouse Man, a salesman who sold fashion from a decked-out truck in the film "A Walk on the Moon," which was set in 1969. That's why I didn't feel a spark when I saw a feature about the growing popularity of fashion trucks. What's old is new again.
The mobile boutiques are variations of pop-up shops and are modeled after food trucks. They are a break from chain stores and may offer vintage wear, locally made clothing and jewelry or even makeup and nail care. Some vendors also operate an online component and provide their services at home parties.
These fashion trucks have taken hold in Los Angeles and New York and points in between. The American Mobile Retail Association boasts 92 members, 68 of whom operate fashion trucks, an office assistant said in an email. The mid-Atlantic branch of the mobile retail group includes vendors in Northern Virginia; Washington, D.C.; Maryland; Richmond; and Raleigh, N.C.
Zoning restrictions and permit requirements for mobile businesses vary from city to city. I spoke with staffers in the planning and commissioner of revenue departments in Norfolk, Chesapeake and Virginia Beach. No one had yet registered a fashion truck, nor had they heard of such a thing. That means the road is wide open.
Does the concept stand a lasting chance when you can now buy clothes, shop for groceries and get your oil changed all at one place?
Perhaps.
As I listened to a recent news segment about the trend on "Good Morning America," I couldn't help but think: "After experiencing the veiled thrill of responding to a compliment by saying, 'Yeah girl, I got this off the back of a truck near my job,' then what? How often would I be compelled to buy more? Would I have the time to search out the vendor to learn her tour schedule? What if the stuff is hot?"
I then recalled the excitement prompted by the public library system's Bookmobile whenever it would come to the apartment complex where my family lived for a while in Greenville, Miss. The graphics on the hulking blue motor coach served as a mobile billboard that signaled we were in store for a treat.
Undiscovered reading pleasures were being brought to our fingertips. We could go inside and escape the summer heat, browse at our leisure, leave with an armload of goodies and not have to bug our parents about taking us to the library downtown.
And I love that a mobile mammography RV comes to my workplace. Its doing so has nullified all of my gripes about not having the time to go to a clinic or hospital.
So maybe the idea of mobile fashion is right on time - style delivered to your corner, served on your block. I could see it as an especially attractive option for busy professionals, stay-at-home and working moms and for anyone else who enjoys shopping outside of the big box. It also could appeal to those who live in smaller communities that have little in the way of distinctive fashion retail.
I can see it now: People running out of their houses to flag down a rolling boutique as if it were the ice cream truck. I live for that day.
And so does Ashley Roberson of Norfolk. The divorced mother of three daughters ages 7 to 11 is in the fundraising stage for what she hopes will be the first fashion truck in Hampton Roads. She has plans to convert a 1985 P30 Chevy step van (think FedEx truck) into a traveling boutique from which to sell vintage fashions curated from estate sales.
The 32-year-old self-described "entrepreneur at heart" intends to merge the business with a cause - autism awareness and support, she said. Two of her daughters have the disorder.
"It's my vision for improving the quality of life for my children," Roberson said.
In addition to selling street-side and at events, Roberson's business model includes sales by appointment.
Ooh wee. I hardly would know how to act if I could call up a fashion truck and have it come to my house so I could select something new to wear that day.
It's time to swing open the (truck) doors for business in Hampton Roads.
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