Meet the Pitstone woman who ditched her stressful job in marketing and web design to run a retro shop

Vintage collector Rachel Toy is celebrating 10 years of being in the collectables trade. Her interest started when she accompanied her mum and aunt to car boot sales as a child

Rachel Toy has always loved anything vintage, a passion that began when she accompanied her mum and aunt to car boot sales as a child.

She recalls: “They’d be after 20s and 30s deco items – the kind of things that reminded them of my grandparents – while I’d be searching for toys and clothes. By the time I got to my late teens, I was attracted to the bright colours of 60s and 70s kitchenware. I was hooked – and that’s how I started my collection.”

She wonders whether her family’s penchant for buying and selling comes from her great uncle – a barrow boy in Camden market, pre and post Second World War.

Rachel's quirky garden shed is full of artfully displayed fascinating vintage items from the '60s and '70s

Today Rachel’s Pitstone home, together with her garden shop shed, is filled with 60s and 70s retro items. And she’s celebrating 10 years of running her vintage collectables business – even though times are tough with the current economic climate and the uncertainty of war in Ukraine and crisis in the Middle East.

She says: “People tend to turn to the past in times of uncertainty. It’s a predicable place to retreat, a time when everything seemed much simpler.

"My customers often come to me for items that remind them of their childhood, or a lost loved one, as a little comfort to help them through. Vintage is also sustainable and a cheaper alternative to buying new, which appeals to consumers when times are tough.

Ten years ago Rachel – who grew up in Watford – was at a crossroads in her life, desperate to get away from a stressful freelance job in web design and marketing.

A cornucopia of vintage kitchenalia in the bright colours that first attracted Rachel to the retro market when she was in her teens. She says customers love orange and yellow

She’d registered for an Ebay account to source vintage decorations, had experimented with selling clothes and liked how easy it seemed to trade things online.

She says: “My marketing and web design background was a big help in my new venture . . . it was time to use that knowledge for myself, to work on something that excited me and other like-minded people.

"I spent the next few years throwing myself into learning all about the antiques and second-hand industry, including signing up for a retail space in a local antiques centre - my ultimate initiation into my new world. I learned many facets of the trade from old-school dealers, such as how to negotiate a good price when buying, new places to source and repair items – and what sells well.”

Rachel, 48, also attended numerous vintage fairs which she found invaluable for networking: “Sometimes takings were disappointing but it was always a great chance to learn which items were popular and swap stories with fellow dealers.”

Times were challenging after Brexit and in 2018 she decided she needed somewhere to display her items and have all her stock in one place.

She’d previously used her summerhouse as an office, so cleared it out and painted it blue to create a quirky shed shop: “It was an instant hit with my social media followers and locals who wanted to come and browse.”

Her husband Phil has got used to all her ‘stuff’ and helps with the heavy lifting.

The couple met in a local walking group and loved the Chiltern area so much they moved here in 2007 before they got married.

> Visit https://rachelsvintageretro.co.uk for more information.