Elsewhere — A vintage shop downtown

Sean Lovelace and Claire Gautreaux opened Elsewhere at the end of 2023, on Joachim Street in downtown Mobile. The shop is small, curated, and unhurried — vintage clothing, retail brands, textiles and wares. Twenty years of personal collecting goes into what makes the floor.

I asked Sean, who now runs the shop solo, all about it.

A rack of vintage clothing shot close along its length — a teal jacket, a mustard herringbone coat, checked and striped shirts on wooden hangers. — The sidewalk rack, close up.

On how it started

We opened at the end of 2023, but that somehow feels like a hundred years ago. Me and my friend Claire had, at some point in the years before Elsewhere, talked briefly about how we should open a shop together, as a bit of an in-passing conversation. It wasn't until it came up again that we went into a whirlwind of conversation to brainstorming to signing a lease and announcing the opening day.

The shop from further down the sidewalk: green door under a pale green awning, a rolling rack of coats outside it, and an A-frame sign reading elsewhere, so cute.

The interior looking toward the green back door, clothing racks down the right wall, a long counter of goods on the left, a macramé planter hanging overhead.

On the vision

We threw around the idea of '2010s Urban Outfitters but vintage clothing,' and I think that still makes sense.

A tall built-in shelving bay: a straw hat, a trailing pothos, cowboy boots, a stack of books, a tray of art cards, folded textiles and a candle — racks of clothing to the right of it. — Wares and textiles share the floor with the clothing.

On curation

I've been doing this for a while now and I feel like it's gotten easier over time. It's definitely not a foolproof system, though — the collector in me looks for different things than the curator in me does, at times. I think it ultimately boils down to knowledge and taste.

Sean in a green pocket tee and a black cap, smiling, in front of a rack of vintage T-shirts hung in color order. — Sean Lovelace, who runs the floor solo now.

On taste, over time

Past-me would have been buying the same stuff, with the exception of some of the more current trends. Now, as a 33-year-old, I personally wasn't ready for West Coast Choppers T-shirts to be worth hundreds of dollars.

A wall of pieces hung on wire grid — a leather vest, a grey wool shirt jacket, camouflage trousers, a Portland pennant, and a red shirt lettered Mobile Alabama Jaycees.

A live-edge wood bench by the fitting-room mirror, stacked with folded jeans. The mirror is lettered @shop__elsewhere.

On the feeling of the shop

The intention is to offer something I myself would like to shop at. The rest has sort of fallen into place and evolved since we opened. Elsewhere is a store that I wish existed years ago. Younger me would have definitely been happy with it, so it's cool to be able to offer this to Mobile.

A table of small goods: trays of silver and turquoise jewelry, a snake plant in a terracotta pot, a printed cap on a stand, keyrings, lip balm and boxed candles. — Jewelry, keyrings and the retail brands share one table.

On what nobody sees

Lots of time goes into sourcing this stuff — be it the vintage items or the retail brands we carry.

A magazine propped upright on a tweed suitcase, a tan leather belt coiled in front of it.

Sean in the same spot, not smiling now, looking off to one side.

One more thing — Elsewhere buys vintage clothing from individuals. Bring pieces in during open hours, or message them on Instagram first.