Curtis Baxter and Rebecca Church founded East Coast Apparel during a challenging period in their lives. But, over time, it has become their passion. Here, we will tell you their story and look at how Cinch Storage Southend has helped them along the way. 

East Coast Apparel was founded just over a year ago alongside Curtis and Rebecca’s careers, with Rebecca working in finance and Curtis as an on-call firefighter.

The business began during a challenging period in their lives after Curtis had a workplace injury which left him unable to continue working. Finding themselves in need of an additional source of income and wanting to be ready for any worse case scenarios, they began selling clothing that was no longer needed by their family members. They quickly found that they had developed a passion for giving quality clothing a second life. 

Growing East Coast Apparel into Something More 

What started as a way to generate extra income soon grew into something much bigger and Curtis and Rebecca began sourcing wholesale clothing and selling online through platforms such as eBay, Vinted and Depop. This is when East Coast Apparel truly began. 

East Coast Apparel is much more than a second hand clothing business. Curtis and Rebecca are dedicated to keeping clothing out of landfill and working with local charities. 

“Our mission extends beyond simply buying and selling clothes. We are passionate about keeping clothing in circulation and preventing textiles from ending up in landfill.

Over time, we have developed relationships with local charities and organisations to help them manage surplus stock. One of our key partnerships is with Vibe Southend, a charity that supports vulnerable adults. By purchasing excess stock from charity shops, we provide additional income for their organisations while helping them free up valuable space.”

They also support their family’s business, including Rebecca’s Mum’s business, Claire’s Creations, by donating to her with anything that they can’t sell so she can use the materials. 

“We also support Claire’s Creations, a local handmade craft business that repurposes fabrics and textiles into unique handmade products. Items that may not be suitable for resale can often be transformed into something entirely new, helping to reduce waste while supporting another local small business.”

How Cinch Storage Southend Has Helped 

As the business grew, so did their need for somewhere other than their home to store all of their stock.

“We wanted to look at storage units because we were running our business out of our flat initially so our bedroom was full of boxes, our living room had racking along the back wall. It was taking over our home so we bit the bullet and went for a storage unit.”

When it came to looking for storage they explored industrial units, shipping containers and various other options, but found that Cinch Storage Southend offered the affordability, flexibility and convenience they needed. 

“It was the perfect solution for a growing business that wasn’t quite ready for the commitment and expense of traditional commercial premises. We would be able to manage it better than anywhere else. It was really reasonably priced.”

Convenient Location

Along with the price and flexibility really being great for Curtis and Rebecca, the location of our Southend facility has also proven to be very helpful, particularly as Curtis goes to the unit each day for 2-5 hours. 

“The location is absolutely perfect. It is about a 15 minute drive, along a nice, scenic route down near the seafront. It’s very convenient for us.”

Exceptional Team 

They have found the Southend team, particularly manager Nikki, to be extremely helpful throughout the entire process, from first inquiring to sorting out payment and now taking in deliveries now they have settled into their unit. 

“I can’t recommend the manager, Nikki, enough. She’s done everything for us, from organising a viewing to setting up a payment plan that works for us.

Nikki has also taken in a few deliveries for us. We’ve had bulk orders which are difficult to get from our flat to the unit on our car so we’ve had them delivered directly to the unit and Nikki has put them outside our doors. We would also like to thank Graham for his outstanding support throughout the process of securing our storage unit. His professionalism, responsiveness, and willingness to help made the experience straightforward from start to finish”

What’s Next for East Coast Apparel? 

Curtis and Rebecca want to continue to grow their business, doing more wholesale orders to new and upcoming resellers and to continue working with charities and other local businesses. They also want to support the local community and have started to roll out a clothes collection service for people living in the Southend/Essex area. 

“We are currently rolling out a free clothing collection service for local residents, allowing people to arrange convenient home collections of unwanted clothing. The aim is to make it easier for people to dispose of unwanted items responsibly while helping keep textiles out of landfill.”

This is all part of their mission and commitment to sustainability, to give clothes a longer lifespan and to stop items from ending up in landfill. 

You can find East Coast Apparel on the following social media platforms:

Ebay:  https://ebay.us/m/RsBhh5

Vinted: https://www.vinted.co.uk/member/272145712-eastcoastapparel

Depop: https://depop.app.link/0g3D59Cky4b

TikTok:  https://www.tiktok.com/@eastcoastapparel_?

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/east_coast_apparel_?

Find our more about our storage in Southend or give us a call on: 01702 845 215