A cool breeze carries the scent of old leather. Innumerable shades of denim in the most sought-after brands — Levi, Guess, Wrangler, you name it — hang on racks. In the rustic fitting room, a slinky royal blue dress from the ‘70s with black lace begs to be tried on.
Welcome to Marvelous Vintage . Michelle and Mark Albenese opened the shop in 2021 after years of collecting vintage clothing from the ‘60s, ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s for fun. But what started out as a hobby became their own clothing store for the nostalgic Tucson community.
In 2017, Michelle began thrifting her way through Tucson while working a demanding accounting job. Accounting provided a good living, but it was taking time away from her family, she said. And she yearned for something more.
“I felt like there was something missing and I needed to do something else,” she said. “So I started thrifting as a hobby and fell in love with these really good, old Levi’s jeans and it started to snowball from there.” Michelle Albenese smiles in front of her store Marvelous Vintage.
She began bringing Mark with her, and the Albeneses’ collection of old vintage clothes began to grow. Seven years later, in 2021, they started their own business in Tucson. Unlike malls and most second-hand stores, Mark and Michelle hand-pick every item they sell at Marvelous Vintage.
“In the three years that we’ve been here, we know a lot of the wholesalers in Tucson that will come bring us bins worth of stuff, yet we .
